With the Miami Heat only going as far as the Eastern Conference semifinals since the departure of LeBron James in 2014, team president Pat Riley appears to be on the brink of giving his side a complete overhaul.
In his editorial for the Miami Herald, Barry Jackson claims that according to his sources, the Heat may be open to the prospect of offloading some of the biggest names — and salaries — from their roster.
“We’ve been told by two NBA general managers that the Heat has made Tyler Johnson, Hassan Whiteside and Dion Waiters available in trade talks this summer.”
The Heat's salary cap situation is not exactly ideal at this point in time, with a hefty luxury tax bill looming. That is unless they are able to offload some contracts from their books before the deadline. Given this conundrum, the aforementioned trio of Johnson, Whiteside, and Waiters appear to be the first set of notable names on the trading block.
Fifth year combo guard Tyler Johnson will be earning $38.4 million over the next couple of years, and his current contract stipulates that the 2019-20 season will be a player option. On the other hand, Dion Waters just signed a four-year $52 million deal last year, and is also making a sizable dent in the team's payroll.
For Hassan Whiteside though, his level of play and commitment to the cause over the past two years have not exactly been up to par with the four-year, $98 million max contract he signed in 2016. He will also have a player option next season, so this summer may be the only opportunity for the Heat to get some value back from Whiteside via trade.
Riley and the Heat front office still have quite a bit of work to do with opening night fast approaching.
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