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*Photo via NBC
With the departure of LeBron James, the Miami Heat fell from their Eastern Conference throne and into the lottery. With a major reload starting last season and continuing into this past offseason, Pat Riley is now gunning for LeBron and his Cleveland Cavaliers. However, a win-now play could come with a casualty, the future.
Miami only has six players under contract for the 2016-17 season, which is also when Kevin Durant is scheduled to hit the free agency market, convenient huh? With majority of Miami’s core nearing the twilight of their careers, the Heat may flame out in the coming seasons.
Win-now and tax relief moves have left Miami in a bind when it comes to future drafts. The two second round selections they received this summer will not materialize because of protections. Miami also owes three first (‘16, ‘18, ‘21) and four second round selections (‘16, ‘17, ‘19, ‘20). Miami will not be rebuilding via the draft in the coming years.
*Photo via NYPost
What Miami has done well in recent years is bring in talent through free agency. The 2010 decision to bring LeBron and Chris Bosh to Miami to join Dwyane Wade single handedly changed the NBA landscape on the court and on the legal front. Miami added role players throughout the ‘Big Three’ era and wound up dominating the East en route to two NBA championships.
The Heat will have eight unrestricted free agents next summer including Wade and Hassan Whiteside. They will have cap space, but re-signing Wade and Whiteside may prove to eat a substantial portion. The chase for KD will also prove to be a large financial investment and Miami seems poised to be a capped and potential luxury tax team.
Miami built a championship contender by gathering some of the best players in this era. But all good things must come to an end, and this generation of stars is slowly being replaced by the next. In a couple of years, Miami could be an old roster void of young talent. Pat Riley has a history of unexpectedly altering his team’s future, so it’s difficult to doubt the Heat President…
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, ESPN.com
Salary cap and contract information courtesy of Spotrac.com, Hoopshype.com, Basketballinsiders.com
Future draft commitments and rosters information courtesy of RealGM.com