According to Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have gone so far as to discuss the ‘financial machinations’ of the three playing together in South Florida.
The Sun Sentinel has learned that the three star free agents have gone as far as to acknowledge that it might not be possible for the Heat to clear the needed space to start each of the three at the $16.6 million maximum salary that they would be eligible for in the first year of new contracts.
According to the source, the three have agreed to consider to “split the money up,” if need be.
I’m no salary cap expert (though I play one on TV), but looking at the Heat’s salary cap situation — I usually use ShamSports, but the site is down at the moment — reveals that the Heat have three (maybe four, if we include Joel Anthony) players under contract for a total of $6.869 million. The Heat recently waived James Jones, which will cost them $1.9 million this season. With an estimated salary cap of $56.1 million, that leaves $47.331 million to spend on LeBron/Wade/Bosh, or $15.8 million per player. Though that number is actually a little less due to the minimum salary cap holds for the remaining roster spots.
Regardless, if these three let $0.8 million per season (or a bit more) get in the way of a dynasty, they should have their heads examined.
Of course, Wade’s agent, Henry Thomas, denies that the meeting took place in Miami, because his client was not in Miami this weekend.
“Dwyane was not in Miami this weekend,” Thomas said. “That is untrue.”
“I said when it first broke about that, that the guys would undoubtedly talk with each other, which they have. That’s not a surprise to anyone,” Thomas said. “But this meeting this weekend in Miami just did not take place. Dwyane was not in Miami this weekend.”
Chances are that Thomas is telling half-truths to protect his clients. (He also represents Chris Bosh.) It’s possible that the meeting took place on a non-weekend day or in some other South Florida locale that isn’t technically the city of Miami. These are the kinds of games that agents play.
But back to the Heat, who could give Michael Beasley away to create more cap space. His stock seems to be at an all time low, which is puzzling because he hasn’t had a bad career so far (14-6, 46% shooting) and seems to have cleaned up his act off the court. If they are able to move him, they could start LeBron, Wade and Bosh at the max. The Heat should hold onto Beasley if they can, and see if he thrives in a scoring role off the bench.
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