The Miami Heat and Chris Bosh are working toward a deal that would remove his salary from the team's salary cap before the upcoming NBA draft. Bosh was unable to play last season after failing a required physical. With a new collective bargaining agreement coming into play just after the draft that will impact the way the salary cap works in the future, it's going to take some maneuvering to make sure that the Miami Heat have enough salary space to bring in the players that they want.
Bosh sidelined with medical issues
Chris Bosh spent last season and half of the two seasons before it on the sidelines after failing to pass the required physical in order to play with The Heat.
Bosh is still a part of the team though and has yet to retire from the NBA. Due to his continued inability to play basketball professionally while still holding an active contract, the Sun Sentinal reports that the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have been working together to try and resolve the salary cap issue that having Chris Bosh on the team is creating.
The current CBA is in place until June 30 and a new one will replace it on July 1. The problem is, the NBA draft takes place on June 22, just eight days before the new agreement takes over. Under the new CBA, Chris Bosh's salary wouldn't affect the Miami Heat's salary cap or cause them to pay the luxury tax after the medical panel decides that it's not safe for him to play in games.
That isn't the case right now, though, and the Heat are trying to find a way to keep Bosh on the roster without his salary affecting them more than it already has.
The new CBA will fix this issue but not in time
The problem for Chris Bosh and the Miami Heat is that the new collective bargaining agreement addresses issues such as Bosh's, where an NBA player has a medical condition that keeps them from playing basketball.
The old collective bargaining agreement, that is still in place, does not.
On February 9, it was a full year since Chris Bosh played in a game. Because of that, the Miami Heat were able to apply to exclude Bosh's salary from their cap. They weren't able to claim that cap space in time for the NBA trade deadline, which was also in February.
Will Bosh return?
Chris Bosh signed a max deal with the Miami Heat in 2014 when LeBron James left the team to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Because of that deal, Bosh is due a guaranteed $25.3 million salary for 2017-18 and $26.8 million salary for 2018-19. While much of his salary will be covered by insurance due to his inability to play due to the blood clots that he has been dealing with.
Despite all of the concern about his health, Bosh has been fighting to return to court and continue his career. He argued that other professional athletes, including NHL's Tomas Fleischmann, have returned to their sport after suffering from blood clot issues. However, Bosh revealed that the Miami Heat's medical staff told him in February 2016 that his season was over and his career was also probably over.
Despite what Miami Heat owner Pat Riley and the team's medical staff have said, Chris Bosh still wants to play in the NBA and hasn't given up yet on returning. That's why Bosh has not retired from the NBA and given up his Miami heat paycheck. He's still doing everything that he can to get cleared and return to the game. In the meantime, it looks like the Heat might get a reprieve regarding his salary and the luxury tax that the team would have been forced to pay on it in order to keep paying Bosh and recruit competitively in order to build the team back up and get them winning again.
