The Heat are often mentioned as a potential destination for LeBron James if he decides to leave Cleveland, but Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel doesn’t believe such a move is realistic. Miami, of course, is where James went the last time he parted ways with the Cavaliers. He spent four seasons with the Heat and combined with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to reach the NBA Finals each year.
However, a reunion is extremely unlikely, Winderman notes. The Heat don’t have any cap space to work with and would need to have a massive sell-off or have James opt in and engineer a trade. Winderman estimates Miami would have to part with Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Bam Adebayo and the high salary of either Hassan Whiteside or Goran Dragic, which would leave LeBron with a worse supporting cast then he has now in Cleveland.
There’s more news from Miami:
- Without a pick in this year’s draft, the Heat can’t get prospects to come to Miami, so scouts are going on the road to see them, Winderman writes in a separate piece. Team representatives are headed to Bradenton, Florida, New York City, Atlanta and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week to attend workouts being held by agents and trainers. Next week, the scouting staff will be at seven workouts in Los Angeles and one in Las Vegas. “We go there not only to watch that workout, but we also would use that as a mini-Chicago [draft combine], where we interview players,” VP of Player Personnel Chet Kammerer explained. “It’s not us running the workouts, but we’re going to get to look at as many people as we can among our staff.”
- At age 38, Udonis Haslem hasn’t decided if he will return for another season, but he continues to work out as if he’ll keep playing, Winderman relays in another story. “When you get to this stage of your career and life, you either do it or you don’t,” Haslem said. “You can’t really turn it on and off. It becomes a lifestyle.” Interviewed Saturday, Haslem repeated that he has no interest in coaching but would be intrigued by a front office position.
- Tyler Johnson won’t try to change his game to live up to the salary increase that’s about to kick in, writes Jordan McPherson of The Miami Herald. The backloaded offer sheet Johnson received from the Nets two years ago increases from $5.88MM this year to $19.25MM in each of the next two seasons. “It doesn’t bother me,” Johnson said. “It’s just a nicer paycheck when I go home.”
Tyler Johnson is garbage, you are ruining the Miami Heat.
Wait…so Tyler Johnson is pretty much saying he doesn’t care what he does on the court, because he is getting paid 19 million? He isn’t going to try and improve because he is getting a raise? With that mindset, that will be your last contract.
He’s just saying that just because he is being paid 4 times more doesn’t mean he will be 4 times better. He didn’t say he wouldn’t improve, he said he wouldn’t change his game to “live up” to the high salary. That’s different.
If I were a Heat teammate/fan, I would have heard that he is not planning to start jacking up bad shots to boost his PPG– and be relieved.
He’s just trying to take the pressure off of having that big contract attached to his name, and I can understand why he would do that.
Dionis, yes the contract is not good, but he A) isn’t garbage, and B) isn’t the guy killing the Heat. Dion Waiters 30% from three and 30 games played may have hurt the team a bit. The $100M Whiteside sitting for long stretches in the playoffs because he doesn’t fit the modern game may have contributed to the lacklustre season.
I look at Mozgov, Deng, ET, Mahimmi amongst “killer” contracts. Johnson is a cut above these guys.
I wish Ira would just go away. He literally knows nothing about basketball after all these years. He also lives 30 years in the past. He and Phil Jackson would be great friends
To say it’s not possible to get Lebron in a sign and trade is really dumb. It would likely be Waiters and James Johnson as centerpieces of a sign and trade deal, or if Cleveland is somehow dumb enough to want him, I could see Whiteside actually being involved. That’s only obviously if Lebron chooses to come to Miami, which would still have to happen for that
Tyler Johnson’s contract does not hurt as much as Whitesides. As I’ve said, I hope Tyler Johnson comes back. Whiteside, Waiters, KO, James Johnson, Goran Dragic, and the 2019 1st round pick are potential trade options, although I’d prefer to keep JJ and Dragic.
His cap hit would have only been 12.5 million with the nets. I also think that considering salary cap projections at the time, it would be an ok deal right now, instead of a bit of an overpay. That being said, if Dragic gets traded, or falls off a bit, I think it’s not as bad of a deal, assuming that increases his role a bit. His role hasnt entirely been consistent, but when he is involved a decent amount he performs well
He is a disruptive and relentless defender, and a good attacker, with the ability to come off screens on handoffs, in pick and rolls, and off the ball, and he can shoot. He is also capable of blocking shots, including on big guys, like Wade has always done, and he isn’t a bad rebounder either. He got a little too away from attacking consistently last year, and settled a little too often. I think that was part of trying to learn how to dial back a bit in certain areas where the Heat dont want him to get hurt overdoing it. I think hes just saying he cant get too far outside himself on this team, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t trying to improve every day like everyone else on this roster. He needs to get better at free throws, as does the whole team, and be the attacker he can be, and I think that is more than possible for him