miamiherald
Welcome to Day 2 of the Miami Heralds live Heat free agent blog and Day 2 of the franchises quest to bring back LeBron James.
Please keep checking back all day for updates at the top.
The Heat, Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers - and several other longer shots - are all awaiting word on where James chooses to play next season.
Hes not in a rush to make a decision, per ESPNs Shams Charania.
Miami seemingly doesnt need to save exception money for James because hes willing to play for a minimum contract, Charania said; happiness and the ability to compete for a championship - are more important to him at this point.
After agreeing to terms with Tim Hardaway Jr.
on a one-year, $6.5 million deal and Simone Fontecchio on a one-year, $2.6 million contract, the Heat enters Wednesday with 12 players committed and three standard roster spots available.
Miami can remain under the $209 million hard cap if it spends $6.5 million of its midlevel exception on one player and minimum contracts on two others.
Veteran Khris Middleton remains a possibility for one of those minimum contracts.
Miami has respect for veteran point guard Gabe Vincent, who was on the Heats 2023 Finals team, but its undecided if the Heat will pursue this.
Either way, adding another point guard remains a necessity.
Of course, a roster spot will be held for James if he wants it.
And a backup center also is needed, with slim pickings there.
Whos off the board in free agency Power rotation players: Walker Kessler (from Utah to the Lakers in a sign-and-trade; Los Angeles is giving him four years and $130 million), John Collins (three years, $51 million with Detroit), Nic Vucevic (one year, $3.9 million with Orlando), Sandro Mamukelashvilli (four year, $52 million with Lakers), Zach Collins (two years, $17 million with Chicago), Robert Williams (three years, $44 million with Portland), Moe Wagner (two years, $19 million with Nets), Jock Landale (one year, $14 million with Hawks), Ariel Hukporti (one year, $3.4 million with 76ers), Branden Carlson (one year, $2.5 million with Portland), DeAndre Jordan (minimum deal with New Orleans); Ousmane Dieng (three years, $17.5 million with Milwaukee) and Precious Achiuwa (two years, $11.5 million with Sacramento).
Small forwards and guards: Hardaway; Collin Sexton (2 years, $19 million), Quentin Grimes (four years, $60 million with Lakers), Norm Powell (two years, $45 million with Bulls; Heat did not have the space to sign him), Dean Wade (four years, $39 million with Philadelphia), Marcus Smart (two years, $13 million with Houston), Luke Kennard (two years, $13 million with Phoenix), Keon Ellis (two years, $18 million with Nets), Bogan Bogdanovic (Houston), Mike Conley (Boston; terms undisclosed; Heat considered but decided against), Kobe Sanders (four years, $11.2 million with the Clippers) and Jevon Carter (one year, $3.5 million with Orlando).
Whos left in free agency Here are most of the remaining free agents who would be options for the Heats remaining midlevel exception money or minimum deals: Power rotation players Larry Nance Jr., Jaxson Hayes (reportedly committed overseas), Marvin Bagley, Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Bismack Biyombo, Dwight Powell, Nik Richards, Kelly Olynyk, Maxi Kleber, Kevin Looney, Dru Eubanks, David Roddy, Kyle Anderson, Tony Bradley.
Wing players Bradley Beal (several teams have reached out; Miami among those appealing if they pursue), Anfernee Simons (wants more money than Heat has to offer), Gary Trent Jr., Nik Batum (also can play power forward), Tobias Harris, Kelly Oubre (Miami reportedly not among his initial team meetings), Matisse Thybulle (excellent wing defender but limited offensively), Seth Curry, DeAnthony Melton, Doug McDermott, combo guard Vincent, Middleton, Cam Thomas, Bruce Brown, Jordan Clarkson, Jett Howard, Josh Okogie, Jamal Cain.
Veteran point guards Aaron Holiday, Russell Westbrook, Cam Payne, Tyus Jones, Garrett Temple, and Gary Payton II.
Draymonds take Golden State free agent forward Draymond Green says Giannis Antetokounmpo will reap the benefit of joining the Heat eventually, but probably not immediately.
(Unless, of course, Miami signs James.) Often times when you make trades like that, you dont see the benefit for a year, Green said on his podcast.
It thins your roster out and often times, it takes a year to do.
As it stands today, I dont think it leaves Giannis in a much better position next year than he wouldve been with the Bucks, Green said on his podcast.
However, the long run I think it definitely leaves them in a better position because you can then build that team out.
Weve seen this even when LeBron and Chris Bosh went to the Miami Heat,..
that team looked a bit different the second year than in the first year.
The difference between Kevin Durant [signing with the Warriors in 2016] is we had cap space and we could sign KD with max cap space due to salary cap space as opposed to having to deplete our roster.
Overall Giannis getting to go to one of the places he preferred to go to, I think its great.
But its going to take another year to see this trade fully materialize into what they hope they want it to be.
Green said earlier this year that Adebayo shouldnt be underestimated and his 83-point game against Washington shouldnt be discredited.
I hate how people trying to act like Bam had this random performance like some bum, Green said.
May I remind you Bam is a three time All Star, two time Olympic Gold medalist, first team all defense.
The Miami Heat made a decision to move on from Jimmy Butler whos great and build around Bam.
Lets stop acting like some Bum went and did something crazy.
This is Bam Adebayo are yall kidding me? I cant believe its been this much fuss about Bam getting 83 like he cheated or something.
Meanwhile, ESPNs Kendrick Perkins keeps dissing the two-time MVP.
No one is afraid of Giannis.
What has Giannis done over the last three/four years that has been impactful or scary enough to let the world know that he is going to go down to Miami and actually do something? The roster tracker After receiving free-agent commitments from Fontecchio and Hardaway, the Heats salary-cap breakdown includes 12 players on standard contracts for next season: Giannis Antetokounmpo ($58.5 million for 2026-27), Bam Adebayo ($49.5 million), Andrew Wiggins ($30.2 million), Nikola Jovic ($16.2 million), Bobby Portis ($14.5 million), Davion Mitchell ($12.4 million), Hardaway ($6.5 million), Dru Smith ($2.6 million), Fontecchio ($2.5 million salary, but $2.5 million cap hit), Pelle Larsson ($2.3 million), Myron Gardner ($500,000 of $2.6 million salary guaranteed) and Ryan Conwell (undetermined salary figure).
NBA teams are essentially required to carry at least 14 players on standard contracts and can have up to 15 players on standard deals during the regular seasons, which leaves the Heat with two to three standard roster spots to fill.
Assuming the Heat signs Conwell to a minimum contract that would come with a cap hit of about $1.4 million, the Heat now has about $199 million committed to salaries for 12 players.
With the salary cap for the 2026-27 season set at $165 million and the luxury tax set at $200.4 million, this means the Heat is already approaching luxury tax territory.
With two or three roster spots still to fill for next season, the Heat is also on its way to approaching the first apron of $209 million.
The issue for the Heat is because it took back more salary than it sent out in the trade for Antetokounmpo and used a trade exception created last season to acquire Portis, its hard-capped at the projected first apron of $209 million for the entirety of the 2026-27 NBA calendar.