Miami Heat faces another decision on Bosh; Jose Fernandez fallout

A couple Heat and Marlins notes:

• Though the Heat must wait until at least Feb. 9 to release Chris Bosh to clear him from its cap (pending a doctor agreeing he shouldn’t play), ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported the Heat won’t release him until after March 1 so he’s not playoff eligible elsewhere.

But unless the Heat wants to use all the cap space created by the elimination of Bosh’s cap hit at the trade deadline (unlikely), the Heat might want to wait well beyond March 1, perhaps after the regular season, for an entirely different reason:

Once he plays 25 regular season or playoff games with another team, his salary goes back on Miami’s cap.

Lowe wrote he expects another team to sign Bosh at the minimum, but we hear Bosh – who wants to play again – isn’t necessarily planning to play this season.

At the moment, an attempted comeback next season is considered more likely (with another team, if he can find one to clear him medically), though it’s impossible for Bosh or anyone to know how soon he can play.

Bosh is making no attempt, at this time, to force the issue and make the Heat release him.

The players union would consider getting involved only if Bosh decides in February or March that he wants to try to play immediately, and the Heat hasn’t yet released him.

Regardless of all of this, it’s questionable if any team doctor will clear him. Pat Riley already has said that the Heat is no longer working toward a Bosh return to the court.

FERNANDEZ NOTE

•Though agent Scott Boras could have justified the decision at the time, it was unfortunate, in retrospect, that he rejected the Marlins’ four-year, $40 million offer to Jose Fernandez when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

According to an MLB official, Fernandez’s family would have gotten that money if he had signed that contract before his fatal boating accident.

An associate said even though Fernandez liked and respected Boras, he wanted to stay in Miami longterm and was considering taking meetings with other agents, concerned that Boras might not be able to strike a longterm deal with Miami.

He was due to become a free agent in 2018.

Boras has done some business with Miami, including a contract for pitcher Wei Yin Chen, but he also has had conflict with the Marlins’ front office, including their decision to send Marcell Ozuna to the minors for 5 1/2 weeks in 2015, a move which delayed his arbitration eligibility.

That source wasn’t sure Fernandez would have ever left Boras, because of their strong relationship. The point, though, is that Fernandez wanted to see if there was a way he could stay in Miami.

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This story was originally published October 17, 2016 at 9:54 AM with the headline "Miami Heat faces another decision on Bosh; Jose Fernandez fallout."