Ira Winderman: Heat playing for keeps now with mega contracts
Perhaps the Miami Heat are turning a corner when it comes to mega contracts resulting in extended stays.
To this stage, that has not always been the case since Pat Riley was given the PIN to Micky Arison’s ATM upon Riley’s arrival in 1995.
The cash certainly has continued to flow, as evidenced by Bam Adebayo’s franchise-record extension, or even the mega contract Jimmy Butler received 16 months earlier. But with Goran Dragic making it to the end of his four-year contract and on to another, with Butler as comfortable as at any of his four NBA stops, there appears to be a renewed sense of stability that the largest of Heat checks will continue to be cashed in South Florida.
In light of Adebayo’s extension that kicks in next season, and with the Heat flush with substantial cap cash at the ready for the 2021 offseason, we reflect on the largest contracts (by total value) in the franchise’s 33 seasons.
— Bam Adebayo (2021-26), five years, $163 million ($195.6 million if maximum incentives met): This is an interesting proposition considering that in many ways Adebayo is more facilitator than leading man.
Tie game, five seconds to go ... the ball is likely to go elsewhere. And defensively, he is likely to be planted closer to the paint when an opposing wing attempts to settle the issue at closing time.
The upside is that it is a contract that kicks in when Adebayo turns 25, so it will be paid off in full while in his prime.
— Jimmy Butler (2019-23), four years, $140.1 million: Arguably the best payoff of any of the NBA’s 2019 signings, in light of Kevin Durant’s gap year and the came-up-short finish for Kawhi Leonard.
But it will be the final two years of the deal, when Butler will be 32, that will have to be carefully managed. And even then, if anyone has the self-assurance to opt out of the fourth year of the deal (a $37.7 option for 2022-23), at age 33, it well could be Butler.
— Chris Bosh (2014-19), five years, $118.7 million (sidelined after 1 1/2 seasons): This was give-it-or-it-leave ultimatum by Bosh in the hours after LeBron James left to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, with Bosh having a counteroffer from the Houston Rockets in his back pocket.
Then came the blood clots at the 2015 All-Star break, and the career-ending recurrence a year later.
Still, for all the consternation over this deal, consider how much more Adebayo has received at a younger age compared to a two-time champion, in Bosh, who could be voted into the Hall of Fame as soon as this season.
— LeBron James (2010-16), six years, $109.8 million (opted out after four seasons): The problem, of course, was the escape clause after the fourth season, in a contract structured in a way that no longer can be written. The Heat paid draft picks for the extra, unexercised years.
Still, the lesson then, as now, is any price for LeBron James is the right price.
Undeniably the best contract in franchise history.
— Chris Bosh (2010-16), six years, $109.8 million (opted out after four seasons): Same as with the James contract, Bosh opted out after the fourth season, raising the ante with the aforementioned second contract with the Heat.
This contract was part of the price of luring LeBron. So, therefore, the right deal at the right time.
— Dwyane Wade (2010-16), six years, $107.2 million (opted out after four seasons): This was the contract that Wade made sure left enough on the table to also re-sign Udonis Haslem.
It would continue the pattern of Wade not being the highest-paid player on the Heat.
Seemingly blindsided by LeBron’s 2014 departure, Wade also opted out after four seasons, left to chase dollars to his finish line.
The next-largest contract in Wade’s Heat career was the three-year, $43.2 million contract he signed in 2007.
— Alonzo Mourning (1996-2003), seven years, $105 million: The first nine-figure contract in franchise history, one that provided limited payoff at the finish after the September 2000 diagnosis of kidney illness.
But what it showed was that Riley/Arison would pay nearly any price for victory. That, alone, might make it the most significant contract in the team’s 33 seasons.
— Shaquille O’Neal (2005-10), five years, $101 million (traded 2 1/2 seasons into contract): O’Neal said he took less than possible to allow Riley to round out the roster with talent that helped produce the 2006 championship.
But it also soured quickly, with a personality ultimately too strong to coexist with Riley’s equally strong temperament.
Like the LeBron contract, a price worth paying for franchise relevance.
— Juwan Howard (1996-2003), seven years, $100.8 million (contract voided by NBA): To this day, those involved in the negotiations insist there never was cause for Commissioner David Stern to void the contract due to salary-cap circumvention. Howard instead would re-sign with the Wizards for $105 million.
Of the NBA’s action, Riley said, “I spent the weekend at my proctologist’s trying to remove the NBA’s 17-foot pole out of my rear end.”
— Hassan Whiteside (2016-20), four years, $98.4 million (traded three seasons into contract): Backed into a corner against the cap, this proved to be the ultimate Heat rush to judgment.
The best part of the contract? Arguably being able to trade it in the 2019 offseason to the Portland Trail Blazers to open the cap space to sign Butler and then open the playing time to feature Adebayo.
— Eddie Jones (2000-2007), seven years, $93 million (traded five seasons into contract): Mourning’s kidney illness short-circuited the initial hopes of this capping a move into championship contention, but the value was Jones’ ability to bridge the Mourning/Tim Hardaway era to the Wade era. Ultimately, a value deal.
— Brian Grant (2000-2007), seven years, $86 million (traded five seasons into contract): Riley fell in love with the heart and hustle, but the price tag outpaced the productivity.
— Goran Dragic (2015-20), five years, $85 million: By today’s standards, a value contract, with the payoff of an All-Star season and later helping lead the push to last season’s NBA Finals.
