WHATEVER IS NEXT TO THE MIAMI HEAT, COACH SPOELSTRA MAKES HIS KABABAYAN PROUD
Whatever is next to the Miami Heats, surely Fil-Am coach Erik Spoelstra makes the Philippines proud, making him ranked the 6th coach to record with a 12 All-Time Career Wins in NBA Finals history.
With that too, the Miami Heat with Spoelstra as head coach have earned the respect and admiration of league fans with their improbable playoff run and gallant stand in the finals against the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers
Even after their impressive performance, there are still lingering doubts whether Miami can at the very least duplicate their achievement when the league opens the next season with fans possibly back on the stands.
What really is the outlook for the Miami Heat for the 2020-2021 season? Are they still in the position to upgrade their lineup to better their hopes of finally winning the championship?
Miami’s core that was characterized by a fine balance between youthful energy and veteran savvy will remain the cornerstone of the composition of the team this coming season.
With their extra salary cap space, the Miami Heats may be the frontrunner in 2021 to
acquaire Giannis Antetokounmpo or tender offers to the likes of Victor Oladipo..
The Heat have Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo on guaranteed contracts, while Duncan Robinson and Kendrick Nunn are still signed up on non-guaranteed deals, so the 4 are not going anywhere.
Miami can already offer contract extensions to Robinson and Nunn, who finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting, as they both enter the last year of their bargain rookie deals of just $1.6M per season.
Adebayo will also be entering the last year of his rookie contract and will become a restricted free agent in 2021.
There are talks that the Heat will not offer the 23-year-old Adebayo a contract extension just yet and instead wait it out till the next season. Either way, Adebayo will get at least a $28 million annual salary on a five-year agreement and most likely not be let go by the Heat.
The difference is that if Adebayo does not push for a contract extension this offseason, Miami will have roughly $13-14 million in extra salary cap space in 2021, on top of the maximum contract they can use to entice an unrestricted free agent to move to South Beach.
That will make the Heat the frontrunner in 2021 to acquire Giannis Antetokounmpo, or tender offers to the likes of Victor Oladipo, LaMarcus Aldridge, or Rudy Gobert.
But Miami will not wait until 2021 to once again contend for the title.
Andre Iguodola will be back to provide veteran leadership and defensive toughness for the Heat. The question now is whether 34-year-old unrestricted free agent Goran Dragic still fits in the future plans of the Heat. Dragic earned $28.8 million last season and was the Heat’s leading scorer in the Eastern Conference finals. He has shown he still has a lot left in the tank and could still be looked upon to mentor and share backcourt duties with Nunn, who proved himself a capable starter for the Heat before going down with COVID-19 prior to the playoffs.
Meyers Leonard, Solomon Hill, Derrick Jones, and Jae Crowder will all be unrestricted free agents. Among the 4, Crowder looks like a shoo-in to be re-signed by the Heat. Hill is grossly overpaid with a salary of $19 million with minimal on-court returns, so it would be in the Heat’s best interest to let him go.
Back-up big man Kelly Olynyk has the option to opt-out of the final year of his contract that will pay him $13.1 million next season. But he is also aware that there are very few teams outside of Miami which can offer him over $10 million annually, so that increases the possibility of him staying with the Heat.
Miami has a cap space of $42.4 million going into the offseason, which could become lower if Olynyk decides to opt-in. But that still will be enough to give them the resources to make a run for the lean pickings in this summer’s free agent pool.#