The Miami Heat are waiting on LeBron James’ free agent decision before addressing their final three open roster spots this summer.
Miami, along with the Cleveland Cavaliers are the two teams most frequently cited to land James. But there needs to be a backup plan in the event he chooses elsewhere— and that plan seems to be a pivot to DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan reached a buyout with the Sacramento Kings, hitting the open market as an unrestricted free agent. He is expected to be a veteran minimum candidate and could be a terrific value pickup at that price tag. In his age-36 campaign last season, DeRozan averaged 18.4 points on 50/32/87 shooting splits across 77 games played.
Despite reaching his mid-30’s, the veteran wing has been reliable in recent years— appearing in at least 74+ games in each of the last five campaigns.
Heat are in a holding pattern on pursuing DeMar DeRozan while they await LeBron’s decision.
According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, adding DeRozan “would become a real possibility for the Heat if (LeBron) James signs elsewhere.”
The former six-time All-Star has been a name that Pat Riley and the front office has repeatedly circled back on with mutual interest over the years.
Bleacher Report insider Jake Fischer has also iterated the same plans for Miami in recent weeks. Additionally, Russell Westbrook was noted by sources as another low-cost fallback free agent option if they miss out on the James sweepstakes.
Is there a fit for DeRozan on a discounted price with this Heat team?
There’s two things that the Heat are still in need of to address in the aftermath of their Giannis Antetokounmpo trade: shooting and playmaking.
Those are the two skill sets that came with each of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell, who are now both on different teams heading into next season. Adding someone like DeRozan in the event James goes elsewhere still brings a capable veteran shot maker into the mix. The 6-foot-6 forward remains a dominant midrange shooter with the ability to still drop an occasional 30-point game.
He is not known as an outside shooter, so there would likely still need to be another move to address that roster need, with or without a proven playmaker like James or DeRozan being added. The Heat could opt to utilize all 15 roster spots with a backup big man signing to conclude their offseason work, although Miami has chosen to stick with 14 standard spots over recent years.
If Miami were to end up going the DeRozan route, it will be interesting to see if he would accept the idea of a bench role. His inability to spread the floor could look clunky around an Antetokounmpo-Bam Adebayo centric lineup, but could still excel as an instant microwave scorer to lead the second unit.
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the lebron decision comes down to home team with james or a better situation here but with pat.i think the perfect team for him is denver but rc please dont tell him that
I want DeRozan so much. If we got him it would be a dream come true. I think he is still so good, so clutch, and with plenty still in the tank. Oh please let it happen!
If we get him would u Start him or let him be super 6th man?
Off the bench and at closing. He’s clutch at crunch time.
#2 option.is he a team guy or james harden herro one on one type non winning player,
Heat in a holding pattern until every last ounce of publicity is sucked out of “the decision.” The longer it goes on, the more it seems it is being intentionally done to disadvantage the teams that are not being selected…especially if Miami is one of those teams. How much stroking does one ego need? This whole adolescent playing hard to get dog and pony show is getting a bit ridiculous.
he is the king just like we all wait for your posts.its worth the wait your posts believe me sm .2015 posts with all those meaningless internet stats gets a very quick look.rcs posts never say much i dont already know.2qs always brings little smile to my face.lebrons decision could determine if we are being fit for rings next year.
The same goes for Sixers, Cleveland and any other teams waiting to see if they will be the bride or just one of the bridesmaids.
Thanks. You’re insightful comments like “we can beat anyone in the east”, “can’t we just waive a player like in football?” “Kyle Guy is our ss”. Yesterday was another classic, “he won the duck contest “. Lol. Quack quack.
ray guy was a ss not kyle.i want to waive niko so bad it hurts so much to think we cant .i can say 100% that donald duck johnson is better player than goofy jovic.i can say with certainty goofy is richer than donald
Basically the entire NBA is in a holding pattern. The Heat have yet to be disadvantaged. Did you think Miami was going to pay Gary Trent $16M a year? Or Middleton $6M?
Right now, Miami has roughly $10M they can split between 2 or 3 players. Somewhere between $3.3M to $5M a player. Who has Miami lost out at, that was signed for those amounts, that disadvantaged them?
People choosing to hate LeBron, hate the entire league for waiting. Hate the Giannis trade that hard capped Miami. Hate Wiggins for opting in.
I know all that. James has more than enough information to make a decision. There is no reason to drag it out other than ego gratification. He obviously loves all the attention.
I mean I guess I default to disliking ownership more than players. The owners are billionaires and most players aren’t. LeBron’s a rare player who can control what he wants to control. I think he’s earned that right, carrying the NBA as a star for the better part of two decades. If he signed elsewhere, so be it. If he’s back in Miami, great.
If Miami loses DeRozen, and LeBron…I’d be more likely to blame Pat, than LeBron. Maybe that makes me wrong, but that’s how I see it. Pat could pivot right now, but he probably recognizes that LeBron is the better of the two players.
I absolutely agree LeBron has earned the right to take his time pondering his decision.
I don’t agree with all the misdirection (mindf***king) coming from his agent making the process sound like a horse race. Today its Miami in the lead, tomorrow Cleveland, the next day Philly, with Golden State, Denver and Minnesota hanging back a couple of lengths, but still in the picture.
I hope he makes a decision soon so teams and players can get on with their lives.
Yeah, it has nothing to do with hating LeBron! I think he is the true goat and I am in awe of his ability at this age. Jordan could only dream of lasting like this. I really admire him and would be happy if he came here. He’s entitled to play this game but, make no mistake, that’s what it is.
he might be waiting for ad to be traded to cleve or gsw
AD is not going anywhere according to the Wizards.
Of course, you should have known this since i don’t tell you anything you don’t know already.
your no sunman hes box office we pay good $$ to see sm posts.those post game posts are iconic .must see posts.guy should be in heat fo but hes to west coast.my posts take sides very opinionated about my players and coaches especially my boy uncan.miss that guy and his efense
I also have respect and appreciation for SM. But your obsession with him is a bit too much Fatal Attraction-ish imo. I’m glad he’s on the left coast where he’s happy and safe..
No, so far you are right. I’m just scared that one of the two that in my opinion could really help us, Beal or especially DeRozan, will sign somewhere. Till that happens, and both are gone, this waiting game hasn’t hurt us yet.
Look at what Detroit is doing with Duren’s RFA which could go on all summer, it’s the same thing. All about leverage and whoever has it uses it. Heat have open roster spots to fill but so does most of the league, and teams like DEN and GSW have more open spots.
Duren is a different story. He’s a restricted free agent and until another team offers him more than the Pistons want to pay, he has few other options than to wait. At present, Detroit has no urgent need to offer him what he wants and Duren has no incentive to accept whatever the Pistons are willing to pay.
DET is holding out until Duren accepts their lowball offer, and Duren can only threaten to sign the one year qualifying offer in response. But since Lebron is a true free agent, he can play the same game on an equal playing field, try to use all the leverage he has and improve the team he’s going to.
So, there is this beautiful woman in the neighborhood that you asked for a date. She tells you she will decide in a couple of weeks as she has other offers from other eligible bachelors. You wait several weeks and she turns you down and goes out with the guy who lives across the street. But you tell everyone that it was all worth it just to be in the running. GTFOH!
If the Heat aren’t really waiting for the king and are negotiating with players behind the scenes, fine. It’s true we haven’t let any player we really need get away yet, but this exercise of adolescent ego is strictly for the sake of his future documentary. It is clear that this has nothing to do with making up his mind. He is a bright analytical guy who could have made up his mind in hours, or days at the most.
There is also that. LeBron is dragging this out. And it hasn’t hurt us yet but it is annoying.
I can’t say LeBron is one of my favorite players, but I do like him and believe he is the all time best. Negotiations for Giannis at the trade deadline didn’t work out, but I thought that was a long shot at the time. And when it came to this offseason, the Bucks negotiated in good faith and got the deal done in a timely manner. They could have dragged the process out for many weeks as well. They likely would have been very happy with any player the Heat drafted at 13, whether Ament (not my first choice there), Steinbach, Philon, Carr, or even Cenac. They chose to handle the issue expeditiously. I appreciated that.
Many teams rely too heavily on one way (offensive) players and can’t hang when the going gets tough/physical. Miami should easily have the best defense among contending teams, if LeBron chooses to play for the Heat. I can see a little bully ball in Miami’s future.
I understand he is talking to several players to get their input and vision if he chooses to play on one of their teams.
If he ultimately selects Miami ithe delay will be forgiven, no harm no foul. If he doesn’t pick Miami, it will not be easily forgotten.
If one looks objectively at all the variables with all the teams, Miami is hands down the best possible choice. Period. Giannis, Bam, Spo, weather, taxes, golf courses, familiarity, legacy, etc. Also, if he comes to Miami, he gets a statue. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.
To me, there’s one simple thing – there is no other team currently in the running that has a comparable player to Giannis.
He played with Luka.. if there would be star chasing, he would stay in LA. If there would be basketball money chasing, he would stay in LA. So there is probably really about changing scenery, golf, media attention, ego… not about basketball.
He can finish everywhere.
Anywhere.
Guys, in my opinion, this is 99% about ego and 1 % the rest. If it was about winning another championship, I honestly believe he would have the best chance in Miami, with Giannis and Bam and Wiggins. From the purely basketball point of view, I would like him to join the Heat, he would make the team better. But I don’t believe it will happen. I think his ego will not allow it. In Miami he would play third fiddle after Giannis and Bam and nobody’s going to bend over backwards to feed his ego, at least not as much as they are likely willing to do in Golden State or Cleveland. But there’s no way him and Steph with Draymond are going to win it alll, they’re too old for that. Even if they added AD, there’s no chance all of them will be healthy at the same time come playoffs. Anyway, I am tired of the drama already and he ain’t even in Miami, yet. Not sure whether signing him is such a good idea because of all the distraction he is going to cause in his final season.
Probably. Still very annoying. I want him to go somewhere, and Heat fill that spot or two with somebody able to help.
I want to spend summer knowing how the team will look like in October.
That’s exactly how I feel. It’s why I was very happy the Giannis deal was completed so quickly. It no longer mattered how I felt about the players who were gone. What mattered was what steps the team needed to make to round out the roster.