The decisions before the decision are at hand for the Miami Heat, with the Aug. 2 start of NBA free agency a week away.
In advance of that starting line for the league’s 2021-22 fiscal calendar, there still are four major accounting tasks that must be addressed by Pat Riley, Andy Elisburg and the team’s front office prior to Sunday.
Goran Dragic team option: The Heat hold a $19.4 million team option on Dragic for the coming season, the team’s single largest financial decision due over the next week.
Should the Heat choose to operate above the salary cap this offseason, instead revamping through trades and salary-cap exceptions, it could be as simple as picking up that second season on the two-year deal Dragic signed in November.
Should the Heat opt to maximize cap space in a play for a single elite free agent, the team option could be bypassed, with Dragic then becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Either move would not necessarily decide Dragic’s Heat fate.
If the Heat pick up Dragic’s option, that $19.4 million salary could then be utilized to balance a trade. And if the Heat bypass their team option, Dragic, 35, still could be brought back at a lower 2021-22 salary or be signed into one of the team’s exceptions.
Andre Iguodala team option: All signs appear to indicate a parting, with the Heat adding a $15 million 2021-22 team option to Iguodala’s contract in order to possibly facilitate a trade.
If the Heat bypass their team option, then Iguodala’s Heat career likely ends after 1 1/2 seasons, with it highly unlikely a lesser contract would be negotiated or exception money extended to the 37-year-old forward.
By contrast, if the Heat pick up their team option on Iguodala, it would indicate the Heat operating above the salary cap in the offseason and an intention to utilize Iguodala’s salary in a trade at some point over the coming year.
Should Iguodala not be retained, it is possible he returns to the scene of his championship success with the Golden State Warriors on a nominal 2021-22 deal.
Duncan Robinson qualifying offer: This is a given, with the Heat to extend the required $4.7 million qualifying offer in coming days to Robinson to make him a restricted free agent and retain the right to match any outside offer.
Should the Heat attempt to maximize salary-cap space in order to add a big-ticket free agent and then cycle back to re-sign Robinson, the team could eventually remove the qualifying offer, make Robinson an unrestricted free agent, lower his cap hold from $4.7 million to $1.7 million, and realize an additional $3 million in cap space.
Such a maneuver would have to come with an implied agreement from Robinson that he would not sign with another team. Such agreements, however, have gone sideways over the years.
Kendrick Nunn qualifying offer: Nunn is in the same position as Robinson, with the Heat required over the next week to extend a required $4.7 million qualifying offer in order to retain the right to match outside offers in free agency.
Worth noting, however, is teams also can rescind qualifying offers after the start of free agency, which could come into play should the Heat opt to maximize salary-cap space at the cost of the $4.7 million standing offer to Nunn for 2021-22.
The timing of the Heat’s approach with Nunn could come down to potential trades made in conjunction with Thursday’s NBA draft, any health updates on Heat free-agent guard Victor Oladipo, or a decision on Dragic’s potential place with the team for the coming season.
As with Robinson, Nunn is expected to wind up with a contract for 2021-22 that starts well in excess of a Heat $4.7 million single-season qualifying offer.
