Heat still searching for P.J. Tucker replacement as options continue to come off board

As the options to find a forward in free agency dwindled Friday, a trade could be the Miami Heat’s most realistic and best path to finding a quality replacement for P.J. Tucker.

With Tucker committing to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers shortly after free agent negotiations were allowed to begin Thursday evening, the Heat is left looking for a new starting power forward who complements starting center Bam Adebayo’s unique game in the frontcourt. To fit that mold, it must be a forward who can space the floor with three-point shooting and play in the Heat’s switch-heavy defense.

Acquiring superstar forward Kevin Durant, who has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, is the dream scenario for the Heat to fill the void Tucker left behind. Durant reportedly has the Phoenix Suns and Heat as two of his preferred trade destinations.

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But if the Heat can’t strike a deal with the Nets for Durant, who will it turn to?

When free agency opened Thursday, the Heat’s options to replace Tucker were already limited. Among the top forwards in this year’s free agent class were Otto Porter Jr., Kyle Anderson, T.J. Warren, Thaddeus Young, Joe Ingles, Chris Boucher and Bobby Portis.

But already off the board are Porter (agreed to two-year deal with the Toronto Raptors), Anderson (agreed to two-year deal worth $18 million with the Minnesota Timberwolves), Young (agreed to two-year deal worth $16 million with the Raptors), Ingles (agreed to one-year deal worth $6.5 million with the Milwaukee Bucks), Boucher (agreed to three-year deal worth $35.3 million with the Raptors) and Portis (agreed to four-year deal worth $49 million with the Bucks).

The only players still available from that pre-free agency list is Warren, who at 6-8 and 220 pounds has been used as more of a small forward during his career but has the skill set to play as a smaller power forward alongside Adebayo. Warren, 28, missed the entirety of last season because of a foot injury.

The 26-year-old Martin twins, Cody and Caleb, are also athletic and versatile forward options who could replace Tucker. Cody, who has spent the first three seasons of his NBA career with the Charlotte Hornets, and Caleb are restricted free agents.

Caleb is the Heat’s restricted free agent, and Miami currently holds the right to match outside offers up to the $10.5 million midlevel exception to re-sign him. There’s mutual interest between Caleb and the Heat after he averaged career highs in points (9.2) and rebounds (3.8) last regular season while shooting a career-best 50.7 percent from the field and raising his three-point percentage from 24.8 percent to 41.3 percent in his first season with Miami.

Other notable forwards options who remain available in free agency include Juancho Hernangomez, Paul Millsap, Blake Griffin, Carmelo Anthony and Markieff Morris as unrestricted free agents.

As an over-the-cap team, the Heat does not have cap space to offer free agents. So what can Miami use to sign a replacement for Tucker?

Using either the $10.5 million non-taxpayer midlevel exception, $4.1 million biannual exception or a sign-and-trade to acquire a player would hard cap the Heat at about $157 million. A league source told the Miami Herald that the Heat is looking to avoid the hard cap this year because it would limit the team’s flexibility in the trade market during the NBA’s 2022-23 calendar.

That leaves the $6.5 million taxpayer midlevel exception as the Heat’s biggest resource to add a forward in free agency. Miami has yet to spend any part of this exception, which can be used to sign a player to a contract from one to three seasons long and can be split among multiple players.

The Heat also can sign outside free agents to minimum contracts to fill out the roster.

Since Caleb Martin and Morris are the Heat’s own free agents, it can also use the non-Bird exception to sign Caleb to a deal with a starting salary of up to $2.2 million and Morris to a deal with a starting salary of up to $3.1 million.

Aside from Durant, there are other intriguing options the Heat could turn to on the trade market. Forwards on expiring contracts such as Sacramento’s Harrison Barnes (expiring contract with $18.4 million salary for 2022-23 season), Phoenix’s Jae Crowder ($10.2 million salary for 2022-23 season) and Indiana’s Myles Turner ($17.5 million salary for 2022-23 season) would fit what Miami is looking for, and Atlanta’s John Collins (entering second season of five-year, $125 million deal) has also been linked to the Heat as a potential trade target.

So far in free agency, the Heat lost Tucker but has agreed to deals to bring back center Dewayne Dedmon and guard Victor Oladipo.

The only three players from the Heat’s season-ending roster who remain available in free agency: Udonis Haslem and Morris are unrestricted free agents, and Martin is a restricted free agent.

The Heat’s current salary-cap breakdown for next season includes 12 players: Jimmy Butler ($37.7 million), Bam Adebayo ($30.4 million), Kyle Lowry ($28.3 million), Duncan Robinson ($16.9 million), Oladipo ($11 million), Tyler Herro ($5.7 million), Dedmon (projected $4.3 million), Nikola Jovic (projected $2.2 million), Max Strus ($1.8 million), Gabe Vincent ($1.8 million), Omer Yurtseven ($1.8 million) and Haywood Highsmith (non-guaranteed $1.8 million).

Jovic and Highsmith are two players already on the Heat’s roster who can log minutes at power forward. But Jovic is a 19-year-old rookie, and Highsmith has logged just 203 minutes during his NBA career.

Another option is to play Adebayo alongside another true big like Yurtseven or Dedmon. But Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has been hesitant to use that strategy in recent seasons, instead opting for three-point shooting forwards as Adebayo’s frontcourt partner.

Some past examples include Kelly Olynyk, Meyers Leonard, Crowder, Moe Harkless, Trevor Ariza and Tucker.

Not including cap holds, the Heat has about $143.7 million committed to salaries for next season with the NBA setting the 2022-23 salary cap at $123.7 million and luxury-tax threshold at $150.3 million. At this point, it would be difficult for Miami to avoid the luxury tax if it used its full $6.5 million taxpayer midlevel exception.

NBA teams have until the end of the regular season to find a way to get under the tax line before they receive the bill.

The good news for the Heat is the punitive repeater tax (when a team is over the tax at least three times during a four-year period) is not currently a concern. The last time Miami finished a season as a tax team was in 2019-20, as it avoided the tax in the last two seasons.

NBA teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players under contract in the offseason and preseason, a total that does not include those on summer league contracts. Rosters must be cut to a maximum total of 17 players (15 on standard contracts and two on two-way contracts) by the start of the regular season.

While negotiations were allowed to begin Thursday evening, free agents can’t formally sign their new contracts until Wednesday at 12:01 p.m.

JOVIC’S FIRST IMPRESSION

The Heat’s summer league team completed its second day of practice in San Francisco on Friday as it prepares to begin a three-game stint at the California Classic at Chase Center against the Los Angeles Lakers’ summer league team on Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN2).

Heat assistant coach Malik Allen, who is serving as the team’s summer league head coach for the second straight year, has been impressed by first-round pick Nikola Jovic’s “good feel for the game offensively” in the first few practices.

“He’s got a really good feel for the game offensively in terms of he doesn’t force things,” Allen said on a Zoom call with reporters Friday. “Any time you need to move the ball, he’s got a good feel in just moving the ball. He can put the ball on the floor and attack, which is encouraging for a young guy. He’s not afraid to put the ball on the floor and try to get to the rim and take contact and he’s going to have the ability to shoot it. And he’s a really good kid.”

Jovic, who turned 19 on June 9, said the biggest adjustment for him from his time in the Serbian league early on has been the faster pace and playing for coaches who don’t speak Serbian for the first time.

“I need to concentrate a little bit more because it’s tougher with a different language and different people,” Jovic said on Friday.

Allen said the Heat won’t waste any time and plan to give Jovic on-ball reps early in summer league. At 6-11 and 223 pounds, Jovic is a skilled offensive player with plenty of upside as an outside shooter, ball-handler and passer.

“You can tell, he’s not just a guy who’s going to try to go get his,” Allen said. “He’s got some unselfishness and he knows how to make plays. He’s got a good feel for the game on the offensive end. So yeah, he’s going to get the ball in his hands some and he’ll have opportunities to showcase that. That’s just sort of who he is, at least what we’ve seen so far. I’m not afraid to put the ball in his hands at all. From what I’ve seen, I’ve liked how he’s played because he’s played the game the right way.”