The Miami Heat are not just in a position to sign a max player like Gordon Hayward this summer, but they could still add another complementary player after locking him up. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel noted the Heat could offer Hayward the max contract of $30M per year, and afterward, make a run at another top free-agent if they can find a way to unload other contracts.
Hayward teaming up with Ibaka or Millsap
Winderman believes signing a couple of top-tier free agents this offseason is a bit hard, but not out of the realm of the possibility.
The NBA writer suggests the Heat sign Hayward on a four-year, $175 million and then trade a combination of Tyler Johnson, Josh McRoberts, and Justise Winslow to a cap-rich team in order to open up $23M in cap space.
They can use that amount of money for either Serge Ibaka or Paul Millsap or perhaps a combination of veteran banger Zach Randolph and Dion Waiters. However, this trade will obviously hinge on Pat Riley’s desire to trade incoming third-year wingman J.Winslow, whom he viewed as the future cornerstone of the team. Moreover, the particular move would affect the Heat’s depth since they have to let go of James Johnson, Wayne Ellington, and Willie Reed, who were terrific for the team last season.
But despite the expected drop-off in the bench, the Heat can still put up a very formidable starting five with Hassan Whiteside at the center spot, Serge Ibaka or Paul Millsap at the power forward, Gordon Hayward at small forward, Josh Richardson at shooting guard and Goran Dragic at point guard. That’s going to be a top-heavy lineup for the Heat in exchange for a bit depleted reserves.
Ibaka or Millsap
Both Serge Ibaka and Paul Millsap are intriguing complementary pieces for the Heat if they pursue their super-team aspirations. Ibaka averaged 15.1 points and 6.8 rebounds between his stints with the Orlando Magic and the Toronto Raptors last season. The beauty about Ibaka’s evolution is that he blossomed into a pretty reliable floor stretcher shooting at 38.8 percent clip from beyond the arc last season.
Millsap, on the other hand, is the much more polished scorer than Ibaka, but he’s already 32-years old.
Between the two free agent targets, Ibaka proved to be more enticing because he can shoot and block shots on the other end. Still, Millsap won't be bad fall-back option either since the veteran is a pretty good on-ball defender as well, having been named to the All-Defensive second team in the 2015/16 season.
