NBA FREE AGENCY
Key Free Agents: G Victor Oladipo (2020-21 salary – $21M), G Goran Dragic (Team Option – $19.4M), F Andre Iguodala (Team Option – $15M), F Trevor Ariza ($12.8M), G/F Duncan Robinson ($1.6M), G Kendrick Nunn ($1.6M)
Other Free Agents: F Nemanja Bjelica ($7.1M), F Udonis Haslem ($1.6M), C Dewayne Dedmon ($430K), G Gabe Vincent (Two-Way), F Max Strus (Two-Way)
Free Agency is where the Miami Heat will be focusing their attention this offseason, as there are a ton of rumors swirling around this organization in terms of the potential moves that they will make. Victor Oladipo is the Heat’s biggest pending free agent this offseason and while they traded for him at the trade deadline with the intent of keeping him long-term, things may have chance since the former All-Star guard will likely miss a vast majority of the 2021-22 season.
Victor Oladipo suffered a right quadriceps tendon injury, the same quad that he injured back in January 2019 that kept him out over a year, after playing just four games with the Miami Heat. There was no word about how severe the injury was at first, but later on in the postseason, it was announced that Oladipo underwent surgery again to repair his right quadricep tendon and he could be cleared to return to full-contact basketball by November, according to his operating surgeon, Dr. Jonathan Glashow, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
With Oladipo’s injury carrying over to next season, his price tag drops dramatically this offseason and the Heat could look to pass up on bringing him back in order to turn their focus to adding more talent that can immediately make an impact on this team.
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By opting not to go after Oladipo in free agency, the Heat can save themselves over $15M in cap space and then they could potentially leverage both Goran Dragic and Andre Iguodala in order to go after a max-contract type of player. Both Dragic and Iguodala have team options for the 2021-22 season that would combine for $34.4M in cap space for Miami to play around with should they leverage the contracts of their two veterans.
Not bringing back Oladipo and then waving both Dragic and Iguodala would give the Heat just enough cap space to potentially go after another All-Star player in free agency and sign them outright to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. Some big names available include Kyle Lowry, who the Heat have previously targeted, DeMar DeRozan, Dennis Schroder and possibly even Kawhi Leonard, should he opt out of his $34.4M player option for the 2021-22 season with the Clippers.
Depending on what the Heat decide to do in terms of going after big names in free agency could also impact the contract situation of both Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson as well. Nunn is set to become a restricted free agent with his qualifying offer being $4.7M and Robinson is also set to become a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer of $4.7M.
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Miami would probably favor bringing back Duncan Robinson over Kendrick Nunn if they had to choose, but both young players are guys that the Heat would like to retain in free agency this year, even though Robinson is expected to receive multiple offers above $12M per year. The Heat will have to open up their check books in order to bring back both Nunn and Robinson, especially if they are to go after a $30M+ per year guy like one of the All-Stars available in free agency this offseason.
Nemanja Bjelica, Trevor Ariza and Dewayne Dedmon are also going to be free agents this offseason, but it is expected that all of them will not be returning to the Heat for the 2021-22 season unless they were to sign veteran’s minimum contracts.
Pat Riley always has something big planned in free agency and given all of the potential cap space the Heat could have, they will definitely be adding a relatively big name to their roster this offseason whether it be through free agency or via trade.
