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The Miami Heat were one of the surprising teams in the Eastern Conference this past season narrowingly missing out on grabbing a playoff spot.
It now appears one of their young pieces in center Willie Reed is expected to decline the $1.6 million player option for the 2017-18 season, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical.
Miami's Willie Reed will decline his player option and become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 1, 2017
In his first year with the Heat, Reed carved out a consistent role off the bench as the primary backup to Hassan Whiteside where he averaged 5.3 points on 56.8 percent shooting from the field along with 4.7 rebounds in 14.5 minutes in 71 games played with five starts. This includes notching his first four career double-doubles.
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In his five starts, Reed was quite productive averaging 14.8 points on 68.6 percent shooting with 8.2 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks in 28.4 minutes per game. It was highlighted with tying his career high with 22 points and hauling in 12 rebounds against the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 6.
Despite his electing to test the free-agent market, Reed told Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel that he would like to re-sign with Miami in the offseason after coming together for a strong finish to the regular season. The 27-year-old should be in line to receive a new deal that is worth more than double his previous base salary especially given the continued rise of the league salary cap.
“I mean you have an emotional attachment to these guys,” Reed said about the Heat's 30-11 finish to the season. “This is a special team. We made history this year.”
Reed's deal does possess a unique structure that allows for him to change his mind and pick up the player option prior to June 29. However, the overwhelming expectation is that he will hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer.
