The next steps to re-building the Miami Heat are taking place. As opposed to Pat Riley wielding free agency power, however, the team’s players appear to be running things. After LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh decided to opt-out of their deals for next season, the Heat’s Big Three are reportedly discussing terms of their new contracts amongst themselves.
The news is courtesy of ESPN’s Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne. Of crucial note in Stein and Shelburne’s report is that James, Wade, and Bosh have yet to decide the best financial course of actions for their individual and collective futures.
After agreeing to all opt out of their contracts together, Miami Heat stars LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade have been discussing financial terms of new contracts among each other, sources told ESPN.com…
The trio of Heat stars working collectively have three general options on how to put together their deals that could affect how aggressive the team will be going after other free agents. The Heat’s front office, led by president Pat Riley and general manager Andy Elisburg, will consult but have different plans for all three contingencies, sources said.
James, Bosh and Wade could all re-sign and take raises to the maximum salary starting at $22 million each, which would carry the Heat into the luxury tax and significantly limit their spending options this season and in the following seasons.
They could all take significant pay cuts, perhaps in excess of $5 million per year each, that would take the Heat below the salary cap and leave enough room to chase a major free agent like point guard Kyle Lowry. Though the Heat may ultimately investigate the possibility of Carmelo Anthony, that option has not been seriously discussed among the parties yet, sources said.
The last option is that the Heat stars could all take moderate pay cuts and stagger their salaries at different levels. This would likely not leave significant cap space but it would take the Heat below the luxury tax line and enable them up to use the full mid-level exception of $5.3 million and the biannual exception of $2 million to bring in multiple role players.
When word broke yesterday that Wade, Bosh, and Udonis Haslem had decided to opt-out of their contracts, it became a foregone conclusion that the Big Three would remain with the Heat barring an unforeseen turn of events. Though initial reports indicated that James is intent on receiving a maximum-level contract in that scenario, Stein and Shelburne’s information refutes that news.
Of the options available to James, Wade, and Bosh, pay-cuts of varying degrees seems the most logical and realistic choice. At 32 years-old with chronic knee problems and coming off a substandard performance in the NBA Finals, Wade isn’t worth the contracts that LeBron and Bosh could command from Miami or another team. Plus, the Big Three set a precedent for taking reduced salaries to improve the talent surrounding them when they originally came together four years ago.
The question now becomes the extent of James, Wade, and Bosh’s likely salary reductions and whether or not they’ll sign deals of similar length and worth. Will they simply agree to salaries just below market value that keep Miami from the luxury tax? Or will they go another route entirely by choosing to bite the financial bullet to get help from a fourth star like Lowry or even Anthony?
Apparently, not even the Big Three know for sure. Whatever their final decision may be, though, won’t only change the landscape of free agency, but that of the entire league for years to come.
Will the Big Three take pay-cuts?
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