Starting Thursday, the Heat will be able to offer a contract extension to third-year guard Josh Richardson, writes Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. The offer can be as much as $43MM over four years, and Richardson would have until the start of the regular season to accept it. If he doesn’t, he will become a restricted free agent next summer.
Richardson has been valuable when he’s been in the lineup, but he was limited to 53 games last year because of injuries. Knee surgery forced him to miss training camp and the first four regular season games, then ankle problems sidelined him in midseason.
Jackson expects the Heat to offer at least $30MM over three years, with a player option for the final season. Given the decline in money going to mid-level free agents this summer, Richardson might find that offer appealing.
Here are some more Heat-related notes, courtesy of Jackson:
- Miami seems likely to hold onto its $4.3MM mid-level exception for the buyout season. The Heat like former Warrior Ian Clark, who once played for Miami’s summer league team, but he’s looking for $8MM, well out of their price range. There’s also not an obvious role for Clark in an already-crowded backcourt.
- The Heat also didn’t have playing time to give Derrick Rose, which is why they didn’t try to top Cleveland’s $2.1MM offer. Miami’s front office had interest in Rose, but the team is already committed to Goran Dragic as its starter as point guard.
- Justise Winslow held a press conference this week and said his injured right shoulder will be fully healed by training camp. The second-year forward played just 18 games last year and had season-ending surgery in early January.
- Free agent big man Luke Babbitt, who was acquired from the Pelicans in a trade last summer, is examining his options for next season. He made $1.227MM last year.
- Willie Reed probably wouldn’t have opted out of his contract with the Heat if he knew he wouldn’t be getting a raise. The 27-year-old center agreed to a minimum-salary deal with the Clippers worth $1.5MM for one year, roughly the same amount he would have gotten in Miami. Reed said L.A. wants him to provide a defensive presence as a backup to DeAndre Jordan. “I felt like it was a comfortable position and it was kind of similar to the role that I played in Miami,” Reed said, “so it wouldn’t be difficult for me to adjust.”
Stupid Miami Rose when he is healthy is top five PG
no he isn’t anymore, even if he’s healthy for a full season he’s nowhere near top 5
It’s nice to retain flexibility, but we have money locked up right now. Most of it is movable though, and that sort of is another way of retaining flexibility. With that being said, I think we should sign Richardson, if we can get him at one of those deals. If he has a healthy season, he could potentially see something in the $13-18 million per range. He could get screwed in Restricted Free Agency, so that might be incentive to sign now. It’s a pretty interesting situation. Based on the Free Agents available next year, and the lack of cap space around the league, he might be better off taking the security of the extension
I’ll clarify that potential amount by saying that he’d obviously have to play the way he is capable of on both sides of the ball, as well as staying healthy
Hey Luke or HR team, can you explain what cap mechanism Miami would be using for this hypothetical Richardson extension? They don’t have cap room to renegotiate and extend him, so I could only think of the 120% raise of previous salary being their means to extend him…
The 120% rule for an extension applies to a player’s previous salary OR the estimated average salary, whichever is higher. So in Richardson’s case, an extension could start at up to 120% of the estimated average salary, which is where I assume Jackson’s estimate is coming from.
Gotcha, thanks!