Heat Expected To Hold Off Waiving Chris Bosh Until After Playoff Deadline

[RealGM Wiretap]

The Miami Heat are currently expected to wait until after March 1st to waive Chris Bosh to ensure he is not eligible to play in the playoffs for any team that signs him.

Bosh's salary would then vanish from Miami's cap sheet and create massive cap space for Pat Riley in the 2017 offseason.

The Heat could use their cap space to sign free agents and then have Bosh's salary go back atop their cap number if he plays at least 25 games elsewhere in 17-18. If that scenario happens, Miami would be facing a serious luxury tax burden.

Miami has yet to find a solution that allows them to waive Bosh with financial certainty. 

Via Zach Lowe/ESPN

[wind1975]

wow! what a bunch of dicks!

[Tim Reynolds]

I was really against this, but then I understand when I think of the fact that if he plays 25 games this year with another team, they won't get that cap relief for the 2017 off-season they would like.

Still feels like a bad look for Riley.

[Jeff Van Gully]

i completely understood the february hold. that's the business. but, man. this is cold.

i thought they were soooo confident that no team doctor would clear him to play. now they are cutting off his playing/earning potential to eliminate the possibility they could get bitten in the butt by his comeback.

i don't like it. the class thing to do would be to let him do his thing.

all that said, i don't want to see him die on the court one night and i hope he reconsiders pursuing more basketball. life can be long and beautiful for him and his family.

[BugginOut]

Honestly screw the Heat. Let Bosh make his own decisions. If he is cleared to play then let him play! If Bosh decides he wants to risk his life on the court then he has every right to make that decision.

Plus if the Heat are so confident that he won't be cleared to play by any other team's doctors they would release him. Obviously they are not. Riley and the Heat are a sham of a organization.

[Beam Me Up Foxy]

wow! what a bunch of dicks!

It's business. I have zero issue with a team trying to remain financially solvent and have a competitive advantage. Bosh shouldn't be an anchor to their franchise. I'm also against guaranteed salaries and tenured professors too but the NBA just seems to be par for their course there.

[MitchB3]

Honestly screw the Heat. Let Bosh make his own decisions. If he is cleared to play then let him play! If Bosh decides he wants to risk his life on the court then he has every right to make that decision.

Plus if the Heat are so confident that he won't be cleared to play by any other team's doctors they would release him. Obviously they are not. Riley and the Heat are a sham of a organization.

You have to look at this from a business perspective; waiving or a buyout wouldn't be beneficial for the Heat, because at the end of the day what you end up doing is stretching out the amount you have to pay him over time.

The Heat are a first class organization and they aren't going to put their name or the NBA reputation on the line because of player who is too stubborn to listen. Bosh had his 2nd blood clot, in back-to-back season, now if the second blood clot happened two or three years from his first then they can say its a coincidence, however it did not. So now, you have to think is there a probably that it will happen a 3rd time? I believe that's what the Heat did. Again, they are a first class organization, they don't just rush to conclusion; they gather the facts, they go to multiple Doctors and get different opinion and if 9 out of 10 Doctors say the exact same thing then you cannot take that risk and him play.

[bigpimpatl]

wow! what a bunch of dicks!

It's business. I have zero issue with a team trying to remain financially solvent and have a competitive advantage. Bosh shouldn't be an anchor to their franchise. I'm also against guaranteed salaries and tenured professors too but the NBA just seems to be par for their course there.

You don't know the definition of financially solvent. The heat are in NO DANGER of going bankrupt, not to my knowledge or anyone else's. They are 100% able to pay their bills and continue business regardless of the Bosh situation, so why throw that phrase around. Completely false.

And yea complete dick move by the Heat. You made the assessment that he can't play but you won't let him go to be with a playoff team? The Heat probably won't make the playoffs so how does this even affect them?

[Beam Me Up Foxy]

wow! what a bunch of dicks!

It's business. I have zero issue with a team trying to remain financially solvent and have a competitive advantage. Bosh shouldn't be an anchor to their franchise. I'm also against guaranteed salaries and tenured professors too but the NBA just seems to be par for their course there.

You don't know the definition of financially solvent. The heat are in NO DANGER of going bankrupt, not to my knowledge or anyone else's. They are 100% able to pay their bills and continue business regardless of the Bosh situation, so why throw that phrase around. Completely false.

And yea complete dick move by the Heat. You made the assessment that he can't play but you won't let him go to be with a playoff team? The Heat probably won't make the playoffs so how does this even affect them?

Oh please. There are always money restraints especially in the nba with the salary cap. You have to work within a budget. There is zero issues with what the heat are doing imo.

[Greg Foster Jr.]

I'm sure if he offered to be bought out for nothing they would do it. Why should they pay his enormous salary and let him play for another team?

[bigpimpatl]

It's business. I have zero issue with a team trying to remain financially solvent and have a competitive advantage. Bosh shouldn't be an anchor to their franchise. I'm also against guaranteed salaries and tenured professors too but the NBA just seems to be par for their course there.

You don't know the definition of financially solvent. The heat are in NO DANGER of going bankrupt, not to my knowledge or anyone else's. They are 100% able to pay their bills and continue business regardless of the Bosh situation, so why throw that phrase around. Completely false.

And yea complete dick move by the Heat. You made the assessment that he can't play but you won't let him go to be with a playoff team? The Heat probably won't make the playoffs so how does this even affect them?

Oh please. There are always money restraints especially in the nba with the salary cap. You have to work within a budget. There is zero issues with what the heat are doing imo.

Ok what you said now, is different than financially solvent. Yes this does put some initial money constraints, but the insurance and the injury exemption would take care of all that. So the Heat would eventually be compensated. But even if that doesn't go through, you can't tell us that the Heat would have to shut down operations and cease running (the definition of financial solvency) because of that one incident. Riley even said it has nothing to do with money and I believe that (documented injury exception per the CBA and insurance pay out).

[BugginOut]

Honestly screw the Heat. Let Bosh make his own decisions. If he is cleared to play then let him play! If Bosh decides he wants to risk his life on the court then he has every right to make that decision.

Plus if the Heat are so confident that he won't be cleared to play by any other team's doctors they would release him. Obviously they are not. Riley and the Heat are a sham of a organization.

You have to look at this from a business perspective; waiving or a buyout wouldn't be beneficial for the Heat, because at the end of the day what you end up doing is stretching out the amount you have to pay him over time.

The Heat are a first class organization and they aren't going to put their name or the NBA reputation on the line because of player who is too stubborn to listen. Bosh had his 2nd blood clot, in back-to-back season, now if the second blood clot happened two or three years from his first then they can say its a coincidence, however it did not. So now, you have to think is there a probably that it will happen a 3rd time? I believe that's what the Heat did. Again, they are a first class organization, they don't just rush to conclusion; they gather the facts, they go to multiple Doctors and get different opinion and if 9 out of 10 Doctors say the exact same thing then you cannot take that risk and him play.

Again like I said before if they are 100% confident that he won't be cleared by any other teams doctors then they would have no problem cutting him now, but they are not. I don't trust Riley and the Heat's medical staff when it comes to diagnosing Chris Bosh's health, especially when they just dumped the greatest player in their organization for cap space.

Forcing a shady medical amnesty to get a player off your books is not only not good business practice, but illegal. If they are confident that Bosh will never play again, cut him now and take the risk that he might be cleared to play by another team. Anything else is disrespectful.

[Pedro]

Honestly screw the Heat. Let Bosh make his own decisions. If he is cleared to play then let him play! If Bosh decides he wants to risk his life on the court then he has every right to make that decision.

Plus if the Heat are so confident that he won't be cleared to play by any other team's doctors they would release him. Obviously they are not. Riley and the Heat are a sham of a organization.

I preface my comments with the fact that the media never publishes the complete truth about anything as they dont care to.

With that said, this isnt about the Heat staff lacking confidence in Boshs results but likely their fear that another selfish team may clear him unjustly and take the risk for the sake of wins over Boshs health. A mans death is not worth wins in a game. This is entirely possibly in todays world of pro sports where ethics are a luxury that some teams willingly ignore. This isnt accidental death but someone already known to have a legitimate chance of death while playing.

Besides that, do not forget that Im pretty certain Bosh does hold the right to renegotiate his remaining contract to reduce it yet theres been no mention of it. This may be why he recently fired his agent as I believe they still merit to get paid the agreed % on the contract amount per year. Again, we may never know.

[Beam Me Up Foxy]

You don't know the definition of financially solvent. The heat are in NO DANGER of going bankrupt, not to my knowledge or anyone else's. They are 100% able to pay their bills and continue business regardless of the Bosh situation, so why throw that phrase around. Completely false.

And yea complete dick move by the Heat. You made the assessment that he can't play but you won't let him go to be with a playoff team? The Heat probably won't make the playoffs so how does this even affect them?

Oh please. There are always money restraints especially in the nba with the salary cap. You have to work within a budget. There is zero issues with what the heat are doing imo.

Ok what you said now, is different than financially solvent. Yes this does put some initial money constraints, but the insurance and the injury exemption would take care of all that. So the Heat would eventually be compensated. But even if that doesn't go through, you can't tell us that the Heat would have to shut down operations and cease running (the definition of financial solvency) because of that one incident. Riley even said it has nothing to do with money and I believe that (documented injury exception per the CBA and insurance pay out).

It does impact them financially though over the next few years his cap hit would affect their luxury tax I lactation impacting their bottom line. Quit splitting hairs. In the end this is a shrewd business move. It's not like it impacts bosh one iota regarding his salary. The franchise assumes all the risk with these guaranteed deals, hence why they have to add the hidden expenses of insurance costs to cover these incidents.

[DJ3thenew23]

Honestly screw the Heat. Let Bosh make his own decisions. If he is cleared to play then let him play! If Bosh decides he wants to risk his life on the court then he has every right to make that decision.

Plus if the Heat are so confident that he won't be cleared to play by any other team's doctors they would release him. Obviously they are not. Riley and the Heat are a sham of a organization.

You have to look at this from a business perspective; waiving or a buyout wouldn't be beneficial for the Heat, because at the end of the day what you end up doing is stretching out the amount you have to pay him over time.

The Heat are a first class organization and they aren't going to put their name or the NBA reputation on the line because of player who is too stubborn to listen. Bosh had his 2nd blood clot, in back-to-back season, now if the second blood clot happened two or three years from his first then they can say its a coincidence, however it did not. So now, you have to think is there a probably that it will happen a 3rd time? I believe that's what the Heat did. Again, they are a first class organization, they don't just rush to conclusion; they gather the facts, they go to multiple Doctors and get different opinion and if 9 out of 10 Doctors say the exact same thing then you cannot take that risk and him play.

Again like I said before if they are 100% confident that he won't be cleared by any other teams doctors then they would have no problem cutting him now, but they are not. I don't trust Riley and the Heat's medical staff when it comes to diagnosing Chris Bosh's health, especially when they just dumped the greatest player in their organization for cap space.

Forcing a shady medical amnesty to get a player off your books is not only not good business practice, but illegal. If they are confident that Bosh will never play again, cut him now and take the risk that he might be cleared to play by another team. Anything else is disrespectful.

How is it illegal when the NBA specifically made the rule for situations like this?

[Thatmetricsdude]

The heat are not an evil organization nor is Chris Bosh selfish for wanting to continue his career. The current CBA has very rigid laws pertaining to NBA contracts which ensure that the players receive their money regardless of their physical health. Miami is not trying to pull a fast one over Chris Bosh by failing his physical because they cannot. The team physicals are administered by the Heat doctors and the results are logged with the league office. Chris Bosh has the opportunity to appeal the results with independent doctors which he chooses not to. He's not suffering from an injury but an illness which puts him at risk if he continues to play in the NBA. This is the exact same reasoning behind Isaiah Austin's medical retirement.

If and when the Heat do indeed waive Bosh, he still receives the entire remaining value of his contract but he also becomes a free agent with the ability to double dip. Any team is then free to sign him to 10 day contracts(which aren't guaranteed nor insured) next January and,when Bosh makes a certain amount of appearances next season, the rest of his contract goes back on the cap for the 17-18 season. This won't occur by waiving him after the Playoff deadline in March when there's less than 25 games remaining.

The Memphis Grizzlies/Portland Trailblazers went through this with Darius Miles who played 34 games for the Grizzlies and then promptly retired again.

I can already see the Warriors, Bulls,Thunder, Cavs, Raptors, Celtics and Phoenix just to name a few teams that would sign him to multiple 10 day contracts to see for themselves if he can play reasonably play again while also giving him the most garbage of minutes.

Anyone remember Sasha Kaun? He played 25 games for the Cavs last year at under 4 MPG, collected his championship game and then promptly retired. Which would the exact amount Bosh can play to trigger the cap hit back to the Heat. How can the Heat trust any team to not sign Bosh simply to play him at extreme garbage time just so his cap goes back on the Heat's payroll and then releases him?

[NowLarry]

Pat Riley is the smartest mind in basketball period. The thing about him is that he handles difficult situations better than anyone in league history and this is further proof of that.He had to get rid of Bosh and Wade in the most polite way possible in pro sports as without Lebron they are basically a 2nd round team in today's NBA and Heat fans should know that. Im a Grizz fan and I have to face that fact about my team as well.Truth be told Riley let the reality off all this go further than it should have just so the players would realize it themselves so there wouldn't be any harsh feelings long-term as im sure they would like to involved with the Heat organization during retirement and Riley basically ensured that by handling it this way. Another fallacy in all this is that Riley would have easily paid Wade if push came to shove even if he knew it was bad for business. I think everyone around the league saw the Kobe youth experiment as a total failure and you don't simply bench a legend like Wade that still has gas in the tank yet not enough so that he can bring Miami another title. Wade is smart enough to realize this without coming out and saying it .He realized as an older vet past his prime you gotta make the most of your final years like what Pierce did for Washington before you totally done.

I also don't know why people feel sorry for Bosh as Riley gave him an insane contract that he will be paid on regardless even before the TV money rolled in.He could have just let Bosh sign elsewhere for less money when Lebron bolted as he probably deep down knew they weren't a championship team anymore and that was def the case.Riley has respect for players as PEOPLE and realizes you just don't throw a player out the door like after all they have done for your team and city even if your done at the dance which he should have done after the Spurs finished them off. Wade will have more fun playing for Chicago then wearing out his knees further on losing seasons that don't matter to a vet of his caliber. He will be a great mentor to Butler who is a bonafide star in this league. There is nothing else for Wade to do in Miami. He did it all in two different eras and got the final big contract he wanted. End of story.

The argument of trying to trade Bosh for expiring contracts and picks is an insult to what Bosh did for Miami and Riley knows how to handle the egos of some of the NBA greatest by letting them chose their future destiny with any team these chose. He only had to do that with Shaq and im sure it wasn't the way Riley wanted it to end as Shaq is one of the biggest babies ever and a guy like Phil Jackson would just run away and let someone else handle that problem.Letting it happen this way keeps Bosh off the floor so the Heat can rebuild properly and by doing so can save the Heat the luxury tax and help the Heat bite the bullet on matching that Net contract offer to Johnson which came out of nowhere. Yeah Bosh is mad now but long-term he will be able to see it was for the best for all parties involved and I doubt he will be a 20/10 guy in this league on another team and then the argument will be proven valid that he should have just medically retired on top.

Bottom line is that Riley isn't a turd and is actually a nice guy if you watch interviews of him. He knows how to be a winner in this business because he is the best at handling situations that an owner like the Kings would mess up instantly with bad blood from now on and scare future superstars from coming there FOR REAL. I believe the Heat will be back to true finals contenders within the next 3 season as they have proven to be the best run franchise since 1995, even before the Spurs and Duncan. No one should blame Riley as Wade WANTED to be on the Heat during his career otherwise he would have bolted for money elsewhere. No one should blame Riley for Bosh as he tried to prevent the man from dying on the court when it comes down to it so if Bosh wants to make a spectacle out of this it only hurts his legacy and cements Riley's further as an executive.

[contract]

Bottom line is that Riley isn't a turd and is actually a nice guy if you watch interviews of him.

Interviews don't reveal your character. Your actions do.