Report: Heat could look for big trade if they can remove Chris Bosh's cap hit
But what exactly is Miami going to pull off with little more than cap space to offer?
By
Matt Moore
•
2 min read
The Heat believe that Chris Bosh's career is over. They are moving on. There's no plan to release him, and there was talk in October about a comeback attempt in 2017-18. But the Miami Herald reports that the Heat do in fact have plans to release Bosh, if he is not cleared by an independent doctor agreed upon by the league and the NBPA, which would then allow them to clear his deal off the salary cap going forward, moving a huge chunk off their cap status.
If the relief is granted before February's trade deadline (good chance), the Heat could acquire quality players to fill some of the $23.7 million in 2016-17 cap space that will be created by Bosh's removal from the cap."If you look at some of the contracts that went out," Heat president Pat Riley said in July, "on Dec. 15 [when free agents can be traded, Heat general manager] Andy Elisburg and I are going to be getting a lot of calls from teams about how to get rid of those deals."
Barring an unexpected Bosh comeback this season, Miami wouldn't need to rush to fill that space before the trade deadline.
Source: Unfortunate NBA rule makes Miami Heat root against Bosh | Miami Herald.
The timing of this is notable. The Heat have struggled out of the gate, and look like one of the lower-rung teams in the East. So Bosh presents an opportunity for them to basically get out of jail free, make some sort of huge trade and revitalize all their hopes after losing LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade one after another.
However, cap space isn't as valuable as it used to be. Teams like Denver and Boston have cap room, and assets to go along with it. Other teams can find cap space pretty easily. If you want to trade for major upgrades, you have to have something to deal, and the only guy the Heat can really afford to trade is Goran Dragic.
Also of note: if Bosh were to be waived, then find a doctor to clear him, and then sign with a new team, the Heat would be back on the hook for the remainder of his contract, on their cap sheet, without having Bosh. That's the worst-case scenario and why they'll be so careful with their approach. The luxury tax impacts would be crushing for Miami and owner Micky Arison.
In other words, this sounds like the desperate hope of a franchise that is staring at a slow spiral into irrelevance. Then again, Pat Riley has surprised everyone before. We'll see what happens when February and the deadline on Bosh rolls around.
