Deng to Lakers, Joe Johnson to Jazz; Wade contract still at issue – Sun Sentinel
It’s either Chris Bosh and Kevin Durant to the rescue for the Miami Heat or an oversized void at forward going into next season.
Hours after Heat starting small forward Joe Johnson reached agreement on a two-year, $22 million contract with the Utah Jazz, Yahoo Sports reported that Heat starting power forward Luol Deng agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Heat guard Dwyane Wade essentially confirmed the Deng deal, offering congratulations on Twitter, adding, “Proud to call you a friend!” Wade offered a similar post to Johnson, offering. “Congrats to my guy Joe Cool.”
Wade remains in his own free-agency negotiations with the Heat, seeking a starting salary for a new contract similar to the $20 million he earned this past season. He reportedly has solicited multiple outside offers in order to leverage his position with the Heat, his lone team over his 13 NBA seasons.
While the Heat were able to retain starting center Hassan Whiteside with Friday’s four-year, $98 million agreement, it still leaves Pat Riley’s roster remake in question, and now for more than the uncertainty with Wade.
With Johnson and Deng moving on, it likely will translate into a starting role next season for 2015-16 rookie Justise Winslow unless the Heat are somehow able to lure Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder free-agent small forward, and also get Bosh back.
The Heat, including Riley and owner Micky Arison, are scheduled to meet with Durant on Sunday in the Hamptons in New York, as the sixth and final team to make a pitch to the All-Star forward. The Heat go into that meeting amid the uncertainty of a return by Bosh from the blood clots that have sidelined him for the second half of each of the past two seasons.
The losses of Johnson and Deng make it even more likely the Heat would match any outside offer for guard Tyler Johnson, who is a restricted free agent and is in the midst of considering offer sheets from outside suitors.
Agreements in free agency do not becoming binding until the July 7 end of the salary moratorium used to finalize the 2016-17 NBA salary cap. In addition, offer sheets, such as the ones that would need to be extended by other teams to Tyler Johnson, also cannot be extended until July 7, with the Heat then given three days to match, as is the right with all restricted free agents.
Deng, 31, earned $10 million last season and had been seeking the type of long-term contract that was unlikely to come from the Heat with their limited salary-cap resources. He now goes from a team that stood within one game of the Eastern Conference finals to one that is rebuilding in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s retirement tour.
Deng’s $18 million starting salary for 2016-17 on his new Lakers contract is double what the Heat would have been able to offer. He is expected to serve as a mentor to recent Lakers draft picks Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram.
Deng arrived to South Florida when needed most in 2014 free agency, in the wake of the Heat’s loss of forward LeBron James back to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He settled into James’ starting slot and offered leadership both on the court and in the locker room, embracing the Heat’s underdog status.
At the time of Deng’s signing, Riley called it, “one of the most important free-agent signings that we have ever had in the history of the franchise.”
As for Joe Johnson, after a hearty early embrace, it turned out to be little more than a short-term dalliance following his late-season buyout from the Brooklyn Nets.
Johnson, 35, emerged as the Heat’s starting small forward in the playoffs, working well alongside Deng in that role. However, with the Heat working so tightly against the NBA salary cap that there now even is concern about creating the needed space to sate Wade, the thought had been that Johnson might have had to settle for the Heat’s $2.9 million salary-cap exception that would have come available at the end of free agency.
Instead, Johnson is expected to play in a reserve role for the Jazz behind forward Gordon Hayward and guard Rodney Hood. The Jazz had pursued signing free agents Jared Dudley and Solomon Hill before landing Johnson. Utah already had been active on the personnel market, acquiring point guard George Hill from the Indiana Pacers before the June 23 NBA draft.
Similarly, Deng was somewhat of a second choice by the Lakers, who failed in their free-agency bid for swingman Kent Bazemore, who agreed to return to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Heat had been hopeful that Johnson would not prioritize salary, after coming off the $126 million contract he signed with the Hawks and then played under in Brooklyn before accepting his buyout in February in order to join the Heat for their playoff run.
The Heat’s position against the NBA’s punitive luxury tax was so tight this past season that Joe Johnson only was added when injured point guard Beno Udrih agreed to a buyout.
Both Johnson and the Heat spoke during Johnson’s tenure of moving forward beyond the short-term agreement, with Johnson mentioning the possibility of finishing his career with the Heat.
[email protected]. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman