Could Whiteside change Heat thinking toward 2015, '16 free agency?

[JLop]

ASK IRA: Could Whiteside change Heat thinking toward 2015, '16 free agency?


Q How long is Hassan Whiteside's current contract? I'm guessing the Heat will not let him get away. -- Chet.

A: The Heat have Whiteside locked into a veteran-minimum, non-guaranteed contract for next season. That's the good part. The concern -- and this is taking a long view -- is that Whiteside could then command the type of salary during the 2016 free-agency free-for-all that would box the Heat out of other possibilities. However, if the Heat are sold on Whiteside's long-term prospects by season's end, it also could have Pat Riley considering more of a move into the 2015 free-agency pool, perhaps content to move forward with the right to re-sign Whiteside, Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng, while continuing with Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts (or dealing one of the latter two). The Heat's 2016 free-agency plans did not include having to commit another big contract to a current player outside of the mainstays. Whiteside could change that thinking. He also could get Riley to fast-track his approach. In that respect, Whiteside could be more than a game-changer. He could be an offseason-changer.


Full article:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-heat/heat-blog/sfl-miami-heat-ask-ira-hassan-whiteside-s012615-story.html


Miami Heat Transforming Into NBA Contenders





"Hassan Whiteside has landed and he showed the Chicago Bulls why himself and Miami should be feared. Recording his first career triple-double in merely 25 minutes with 14 PTS, 13 REB and 12 BLK. Yes, you read those numbers correctly; 12 blocks! The spectacular defensive performance dazzled with ally-oops and vicious dunks led the Heat to a 96-84 victory."

"Along with Whiteside, Dwyane Wade went on a fourth quarter tear and is proving to the league that he still has it. It has been years since we have seen Wade play like this, and it is nothing but a good sign. He looks healthy and here is a stat that proves he is: Wade is the league’s leading score in the fourth quarter with 6.5 PTS. That is the best sign Miami and Erik Spoelstra could ask for.

This is the time of year when teams want to begin to play their best basketball. The Heat are beginning to show that with a healthy Wade and an emerging Whiteside. Plus, there is nothing this franchise would like to do more than make James regret his decision to leave. That could just be the cast, as it looks like there is a new “Big 3″ in South Beach".


Full article:
http://www.rantsports.com/nba/2015/01/25/miami-heat-transforming-into-nba-contenders/


What are your thoughts on the matter?

[Magic Boo]

It should! Look, we dont know what Wade or even Bosh will look after another 2 seasons. Waiting for the 2016 free agency is not a good idea. If we want to win with the core we have now, we have to go all in this and next year. All we need is a good point guard and 1 or 2 good three point shooters.

Thats our best shot at contending in the near future.

[Aussie Heat Fan]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

[MettaWorldPanda]

It should! Look, we dont know what Wade or even Bosh will look after another 2 seasons. Waiting for the 2016 free agency is not a good idea. If we want to win with the core we have now, we have to go all in this and next year. All we need is a good point guard and 1 or 2 good three point shooters.

Thats our best shot at contending in the near future.

Exactly. Whiteside needs an affordable fair long term extension going into next year. Our power rotation is championship caliber with Mcbob coming off the bench. We can use the mid level and mini to go after a PG and to shore up the bench.

[JLop]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

Larry Bird exception

Perhaps the most well-known of the NBA's salary cap exceptions is the Larry Bird exception, so named because the Boston Celtics were the first team permitted to exceed the salary cap to re-sign one of their own players (in that case, Larry Bird). Free agents who qualify for this exception are called "qualifying veteran free agents" or "Bird Free Agents" in the CBA, and this exception falls under the terms of the Veteran Free Agent exception. In essence, the Larry Bird exception allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, at an amount up to the maximum salary. To qualify as a Bird free agent, a player must have played three seasons without being waived or changing teams as a free agent. Players claimed after being amnestied have their Bird rights transferred to their new team. Other players claimed off waivers are not eligible for the full Bird exception, but may qualify for the early Bird exception. Prior to an arbitrator ruling in June 2012, all players that were waived and changed teams lost their Bird rights. This means a player can obtain "Bird rights" by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination thereof. It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him. Under the 2011 CBA, Bird-exception contracts can be up to five years in length, down from six under the 2005 CBA.


Full article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_salary_cap


I hope this will be of some help to answers your questions.

[RexBoyWonder]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

It's basically all good news for us :

We were smart enough to include a TEAM option on his MINIMAL salary for next year. This gives us 2 options going forward :

1. Keep him for the minimum for next year too, then in 2016 he becomes a free agent but we have his full bird rights which means we could keep him at any price we want. His cap hold will be minimal and irrelevant due to minimum contract.

Or

2. Try to get ahead of the curve - We decide to not exercise our team option for next year, and instead make a deal with Hassan - We'll pay you more then minimum (even though we don't have to) if you agree to a long term, team friendly reasonable deal. (Living in Miami, with Zo mentoring him, and us being the only team to give him a chance, some appreciation from his side won't surprise me).

To sum up - we hit the jackpot, he's not going anywhere in the next decade.

[Maroko]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

It's basically all good news for us :

We were smart enough to include a TEAM option on his MINIMAL salary for next year. This gives us 2 options going forward :

1. Keep him for the minimum for next year too, then in 2016 he becomes a free agent but we have his full bird rights which means we could keep him at any price we want. His cap hold will be minimal and irrelevant due to minimum contract.

Or

2. Try to get ahead of the curve - We decide to not exercise our team option for next year, and instead make a deal with Hassan - We'll pay you more then minimum (even though we don't have to) if you agree to a long term, team friendly reasonable deal. (Living in Miami, with Zo mentoring him, and us being the only team to give him a chance, some appreciation from his side won't surprise me).

To sum up - we hit the jackpot, he's not going anywhere in the next decade.

Thank you for the explanation !

What is your preference ? And will you be more active this offseason rather waiting for the big fish in 2016 ? Or do you wait for the big fish in 2016 ?

[Aussie Heat Fan]

Thanks guys. Either way that is pretty awesome. Looks like we took advantage of him receiving no interest and got everything stacked in our favour.

[RexBoyWonder]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

It's basically all good news for us :

We were smart enough to include a TEAM option on his MINIMAL salary for next year. This gives us 2 options going forward :

1. Keep him for the minimum for next year too, then in 2016 he becomes a free agent but we have his full bird rights which means we could keep him at any price we want. His cap hold will be minimal and irrelevant due to minimum contract.

Or

2. Try to get ahead of the curve - We decide to not exercise our team option for next year, and instead make a deal with Hassan - We'll pay you more then minimum (even though we don't have to) if you agree to a long term, team friendly reasonable deal. (Living in Miami, with Zo mentoring him, and us being the only team to give him a chance, some appreciation from his side won't surprise me).

To sum up - we hit the jackpot, he's not going anywhere in the next decade.

Thank you for the explanation !

What is your preference ? And will you be more active this offseason rather waiting for the big fish in 2016 ? Or do you wait for the big fish in 2016 ?

That's a good question, and it really comes down to 2 main factors :

1. How good is he going to be in the playoffs (If we make it to the playoffs)
2. How much of a home discount he'll be willing to give to the team that saved his career if we offerd to give him his raise a year earlier then we have to.

There's a bunch of others factors involved like our other free agents targets, but knowing the numbers and the market, I think we should first see if we can get a good PG this summer, someone like Dragic/B.Knight. Those are probably the only free agents that could have a big enough impact for us to prefer not to extend his contract just yet. since we'll have his bird right in 2016, im not really worried about losing him, but I'm a bit worried about having to overpay for him if he becomes a proven stud. If we can't sign a good PG, we might as well use our limited cap space and lock Hassan up long term for a good price. I rather lock him up and keep him happy (and at a discount) then add an ok bench player like a Jamal Crawford/Iman Shumpert /Gerald Henderson/Marco Belinelli.
The year after that (2016) the cap jumps way high, we'll have another crack at adding a good guard.

Honestly it's just too early to know which path is better...but it's great to have those 2 options this summer.

Edit : Best dream scenario is we can trade for a good PG this year (gain his bird rights) and extend the PG this summer, then extend Hassan in 2016.

[ndnow]

Of course he will allow us to focus on getting a solid point guard instead of pushing for a big.

[RexBoyWonder]

If we can trade for Dragic/Knight/Tomas this year, not only does it make us a dangerous playoff team this year, it also opens up our options for future upgrades and accelerate our rebuild :

So next year we could have :

Knight Or Dragic (extended using gaind Bird rights Via trade)/Napier
Wade/Belinelli (MLE)
Deng/Ennis
Bosh/Mcbob
Whiteside/Minimum vet player

*Thomas is due to make only 6 Mil next year.

Then in 2016 we'll have more cap to add more decent bench players in needed spots.

[WD]

I know we're gonna make the playoffs and I don't care at what seed. Its' going to be exciting watching this guy play then. If he just averages ANY type of double double the remainder of this year, i'd seriously consider locking him up next year of we can. He's that type of guy that if he were on another team, we'd being waiting for him to become available.

Limit future injuries by not over working him in practice, let him grow into the game and I think we really have something here. Don't get cute with this guy and assume cause we gave him a break he'll want to resign in 2016, let's take car of him sooner of possible. He's the type of guy I love for this team, one of our own that we developed.

I like the fact that this fast tracks our rise back into contention NEXT YEAR as appose to sniffing the back sides of someone else s FA hoping to convince someone in 2016(gotta do what we gotta do though).

Can't wait until he figures this out, gets a real attitude/mean streak, learns more from ZO.

p.s. I notice that he does not do a lot of the high trapping that I hate from our bigs. Bosh should NEVER EVER play center again.

[ReturnofMVP3]

Or we could wait till 2016 and sign Durant and LeBron!!

[Mars]

Very in-depth read that walks you through the current contractual situation with Hassan and how the HEAT may approach negotiations moving forward to Summer 2016...

Hassan Whiteside Is Very Much A Part of Miami Heat’s Future

Albert @ Heat Hoops
January 12, 2015

It was a simple twist of fate. Had it not been for Chris Andersen’s sprained ankle, Chris Bosh’s strained calf and Josh McRoberts’ torn meniscus, he might not even be here. And yet, 7-foot rookie center Hassan Whiteside, the Miami Heat’s mid-season acquisition, is quickly becoming one of the team’s most vital players...

...But here’s where things get interesting.

The Heat had no basis upon which to project such dramatic early success, but had no reason not to prepare for it in doling out a contract. The Heat had two options – offer him a one-year deal, which would make him a free agent next summer, or a two-year deal, which would make him a free agent in the summer of 2016, each at the minimum salary.

There are two types of free agency in the NBA: unrestricted and restricted. An unrestricted free agent is free to sign with any other team, and there’s nothing the player’s original team can do to prevent it. Restricted free agency gives the player’s original team the right to keep the player by matching a contract he signs with another team.

Restricted free agency exists only on a limited basis. It is allowed only for players coming off rookie-scale contracts, and for players who have been in the league three or fewer seasons.

Whiteside is technically a two-year veteran. This is his third year. Had the Heat doled out a one-year deal, Whiteside could have been made a restricted free agent this summer.

But here’s the thing: Restricted free agency only gives a player’s incumbent team the right to match a contract the player signs with another team. It still needs to have the means (either the necessary cap space or a large enough exception) to match it...

Link

[Dupas]

If we had a point guard i think we could get out of the east..im all in trading deng for a point guard..but not thomas. Hes becaming a black hole on the suns. Rather have dragic.

[DayofMourning]

Add Jerian Grant or Delon Wright through the draft. Point guard problem solved.

[ryanpuge]

Could someone like Rex explain to me whether we would have his bird rights come 2016 and what his cap hold would be etc etc?

It's basically all good news for us :

We were smart enough to include a TEAM option on his MINIMAL salary for next year. This gives us 2 options going forward :

1. Keep him for the minimum for next year too, then in 2016 he becomes a free agent but we have his full bird rights which means we could keep him at any price we want. His cap hold will be minimal and irrelevant due to minimum contract.

Or

2. Try to get ahead of the curve - We decide to not exercise our team option for next year, and instead make a deal with Hassan - We'll pay you more then minimum (even though we don't have to) if you agree to a long term, team friendly reasonable deal. (Living in Miami, with Zo mentoring him, and us being the only team to give him a chance, some appreciation from his side won't surprise me).

To sum up - we hit the jackpot, he's not going anywhere in the next decade.

I am not quite sure what is Whiteside's situation before Miami. I thought we only have the Early bird's exception. Kindly explain further.
TIA.

[RexBoyWonder]

Add Jerian Grant or Delon Wright through the draft. Point guard problem solved.

Hey man I remember just a few months ago we were fantasizing about getting the next Zo, after years and years of endlessly praying for someone, anyone, to bring that true defensive impact to no avail. it looked almost hopeless...

Then Whiteside happened. I swear it's a basketball miracle. This **** never happens, not in this magnitude.

[DayofMourning]

Add Jerian Grant or Delon Wright through the draft. Point guard problem solved.

Hey man I remember just a few months ago we were fantasizing about getting the next Zo, after years and years of endlessly praying for someone, anyone, to bring that true defensive impact to no avail. it looked almost hopeless...

Then Whiteside happened. I swear it's a basketball miracle. This **** never happens, not in this magnitude.

What he's doing right now is pretty unheard of. Its not flashes in the pan either. He comes out every game and does it. It certainly is a Miami Heat miracle.

After the major let down in Oden, this is a nice change of pace. We are so lucky.

[Flash4thewin]

I thought you needed three years to get the birds right? Right now we only have Whiteside for 2 years but his cap hold will be minimal so i guess that's basically the same. Remember 2016 the cap goes up so assuming Whiteside continues to grow a contract starting at 14+ mill is not out of the question. Teams will throw money at young centers.