Heat to wait patiently on Lillard, would like to re-sign Gabe Vincent. Where things stand
Damian Lillard’s decision to give the Portland Trail Blazers more time to improve their roster hasn’t dissuaded the Heat. According to multiple sources, the Heat has decided to wait patiently for Lillard to make a decision because they view him as a player worth waiting for.
Meanwhile, the Heat would like to re-sign impending free agent guard Gabe Vincent regardless of whether Miami lands Lillard, according to a league source.
Heat president Pat Riley was planning to meet with Vincent this week in Southern California, in advance of the start of free agency at 6 p.m. Friday.
It’s unclear whether the Heat will be able to re-sign Vincent because Miami is well over the luxury tax threshold and because the market must play out for him. But the Heat intends to make an offer.
As for Lillard, the Heat’s plans to aggressively pursue a trade for the seven-time All Star were put on a temporary hold on Monday night when Lillard opted to give the Portland Trail Blazers more time to try to construct a contending team.
Lillard and agent Aaron Goodwin met with Blazers general manager Joe Cronin on Monday, and Lillard emerged willing to give Portland more opportunity to improve its roster before deciding whether to ask for a trade.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said Tuesday that “for all the belief some sort of a trade request is imminent, the facts speak to Lillard is stationed in Portland, and the organization has the opportunity for the next week, 10 days, two weeks in free agency to see how they can improve this roster.
“I don’t get a sense there are a bunch of teams in the NBA that are putting off their free agency plans, their potential trade deals expecting Damian Lillard is going to be on the market. An organization like Miami, where you see the natural fit there... they are watching it closer. Generally, business is going on as usual around the league. Teams expect Damian Lillard to be in Portland.”
But there’s hope around the Heat that Lillard eventually will ask for a trade; Lillard already has said Miami and Brooklyn would appeal to him if he does.
“This was the meeting a lot of the league was watching to see if Damian Lillard requested a trade,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said Tuesday. “And he absolutely did not. From what I understand, the tenor of the meeting was that he doesn’t want to pressure the Blazers. He wants to see what they do in free agency. He’s going to give them that time to do that. This is an interesting strategy move.
“He said at the end of the season ‘Get me veterans.’ The draft came and went and no veterans. He’s still not pressing from what I’ve been told. He’s still going to give the Blazers every opportunity to work through this free agency process this week whether it’s through trades or signing players.
“I will tell you that this is going to potentially cause some teams that were going to make offers for him to have to move on with business. They were waiting to see whether Lillard was going to be on the market before they started to make moves this week. Now, some teams are going to have to make a decision to either go forward or wait around. Lillard is going to wait around.”
The Heat plans to continue to wait on Lillard, not only because he would be the perfect elite-level complement to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, but because there’s no realistic available alternative that would significantly upgrade the roster.
No All-Star player is thought to be available in the trade market. A bid for Chicago’s Zach LaVine would cost the Heat well over $100 million more than keeping Tyler Herro, between the difference in their salaries and the extra tax burden created by LaVine.
And Miami is one of only five teams that enters free agency without the ability to sign any outside free agents to a contract starting at more than the minimum (topping out at about $3 million).
Because of the size of their payrolls, the Heat, Golden State, the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix and Milwaukee are the only teams that have no access to either 1). cap space; 2). the full $12.2 million mid-level exception or the 3). $5 million taxpayer midlevel exception. No team can use that smaller exception if it puts them over $182.5 million; the Heat already is at $178.5 million.
The Heat and those teams also cannot execute sign-and-trades to acquire free agents — such as Brook Lopez or Kyrie Irving — because that would hard cap them at $172 million.
That means that at their current payroll levels, the only way those five teams can improve is through trades; using Bird Rights to re-sign their own free agents (Vincent and Max Strus, in Miami’s case) and minimum contracts.
The reason Lillard delaying a decision doesn’t hurt the Heat is simple: Miami isn’t missing out on anything by waiting. It’s not like the Heat has the salary-cap resources to pursue any free agent at more than the minimum, and players settling for the minimum aren’t rushing to sign when free agency doors open at 6 p.m. Friday.
The Heat conceivably could wait on Lillard for another two months.
But Miami likely needs clarity by late August, because the deadline to use the waive-and-stretch provision on players is Aug. 31.
The Heat, by that point, must know whether to hold onto Kyle Lowry and Victor Oladipo to help facilitate a trade for Lillard (or someone else) from a cap standpoint, or release either player with their cap hits stretched over three seasons, a strategy that could significantly reduce a Heat tax bill that will be finalized on the final day of the regular season next April.
The Heat has given thought to using the waive and stretch provision on Lowry, as we discussed in this piece earlier today.
STRUS INTEREST
While the Heat would like to keep Vincent, re-signing Strus seems less realistic.
“The amount of Max Strus buzz right now is ridiculous,” ESPN’s Zach Lowe said. “Max Strus is getting the midlevel exception…all those teams are scared that someone with cap room is gonna beat that offer.”
Keeping both Vincent and Strus at market value, instead of one of the two, would leave the Heat with a tax bill of well over $100 million with their current payroll. And Vincent appears to be the priority for Miami.
▪ The Heat can re-sign Kevin Love by offering him either the veteran’s minimum (expected to be $3.1 million) or as much as $3.8 million. But Miami doesn’t have the mechanisms to sign him to any more than $3.8 million.
It would not be surprising if he returns; both sides were happy with the relationship.
One league source mentioned veteran forward Danilo Gallinari as a Heat possibility if he receives an expected buyout from Washington. Yahoo’s Jake Fischer said a buyout is likely.
Gallinari missed all of last season after sustaining a torn ACL in World Cup play for Italy. Washington last week received Gallinari from the Boston Celtics as part of the package for Kristaps Porzingis.
Gallinari exercised his $6.8 million player option two weeks ago before Boston traded him. He likely will get a minimum deal with a contender.
The Heat nearly traded for Gallinari in 2020, but he torpedoed the deal because the Heat declined to give him an extension, a decision made to preserve future cap space.
The 6-10 Gallinari averaged 11.7 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 38.1 percent on three-pointers in 66 games, including 18 starts, for Atlanta in 2021-22. He is a career 38.2 percent three-point shooter.
Beyond Love and Gallinari, other stretch power forwards who could end settling for the minimum include Jae Crowder, Jeff Green, Blake Griffin, Markieff Morris and Dario Saric.
This story was originally published June 27, 2023 at 5:16 PM.
