Either Pat Riley has found a salary cap loophole that no one knows about, or the Miami Heat's plan to surround the Big Three with an upgrade of talent could be in serious jeopardy.
Are the Big Three giving Pat Riley an ultimatum?
The Oregonian reported that Chris Bosh agreed in principle to a five-year deal that would pay him $11 million in 2014-15 and that Dwyane Wade has agreed to a four-year deal with the first year's salary at $12 million.
According to the report, that frees the Heat to give LeBron James a maximum dollar-value contract, in which he will sign either a one-year or two-year deal. Both CBSSports.com's Ken Berger and TNT's David Aldridge tweeted that those figures were inaccurate.
agree MT @EthanJSkolnick: Based on my info, the numbers being reported for Bosh & Wade are much lower than what I expect them to accept.
— Ken Berger (@KBergCBS) July 1, 2014
Agent Henry Thomas, on report clients Bosh & Wade will take $12M/per & $11M/per, respectively: "all the BS you are reading is just that." — David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 1, 2014
If the "other two" of the Big Three demand more money, the Heat would be able to offer in the $1 million range for the seven players they would need to fill out their roster.
Source: LeBron James "very likely" staying with the Heat
The Heat owe guaranteed money to guard Norris Cole and rookie Shabazz Napier, and CBSSports.com estimates that if the combined salaries for Bosh and Wade equal $30 million, the team would have about $9 million left over.
That figure doesn't come close to luring the likes of Carmelo Anthony. It probably couldn't even lure ex-NBA player-turned CBS analyst Greg Anthony.
So that window that James, Bosh and Wade are giving Riley to put together a roster that makes them a better team at this point seems to be a symbolic gesture. But most media outlets agree that the opt-out moves that the Big Three made seem to indicate that they all are going to stay in Miami.
As the USA TODAY Sports reported, "The NBA's best player is considering his options, to be sure, but his decision to opt out of his contract had as much to do with pragmatic planning to stay put as it did the idea that he would be heading elsewhere. And with the subsequent revelations that the other two members of the Heat's Big 3, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, also would be opting out of their contracts, the odds that the team which had its three-peat pursuit halted by the San Antonio Spurs would be back in full force got exponentially better."
What those pundits haven't answered is ... how?
Do you think the Big Three will stay in Miami? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
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