The Miami Heat are heading into the summer after losing the NBA finals and that means potential big changes for LeBron James and the Big 3 and some free agent targets could be Chandler Parsons, Kyle Lowry, Luol Deng and Zach Randolph this offseason as Miami tries to rebuild back their championship roster.
LeBron and his future has been debated on since he signed his contract with Miami and now he comes into the offseason after losing the championship and he has the chance to opt out of his contract with an early termination option. Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade also have options and all three could potentially opt out and re-sign to help Miami get the salary cap in order so they can sign more talent. According to ESPN.com, James will have options this summer and while most think he will remain in Miami, teams like the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls all could be in the mix to convince him to sign elsewhere.
No one though LeBron would leave Cleveland and he did that and while this is a different situation, he realistically could sign with another team, especially someone like the Bulls or Rockets, as they both have two stars already. Miami looks to be the spot once again and while they lost the championship, James realizes that the team is looking to continue this run and that means adding back the Big 3 and potentially more. James has not officially decided on opting out yet, but everyone thinks he will and once that happens some teams will try and jump in to sign him.
On SportsCenter after the finals this week, Michael Wilbon sat down with Chris Broussard, Brian Windhorst and Avery Johnson and they pulled out some "realistic" names that the Heat could sign for James and they mentioned Lowry and Parsons. The group mentioned that Luol Deng could be too expensive, but also mentioned that he wants to win and could potentially take less money to sign. Lowry has interest according to Pro Basketball Talk and he played at an All-Star caliber level last season and could be the perfect fit since he is a point guard and after the way Mario Chalmers played, that's exactly what the team needs.
James and the Miami Heat lost against the Spurs in five games and while James said the finals will not dictate what he does in free agency, it could have an impact now that Miami lost. James wants to win more titles and he knows how hard that is and now he may have to give up more money to help make that happen. Parsons is set to be a restricted free agent if the Rockets do not pick up his option and while he may be a bit pricey as well, he could be a great wingman for James with Miami. Parsons has shown that he can play at a high level and those two should be major targets for the team this summer. Pat Riley knows how to get people in the fold and there is a good chance Miami snags one of the semi-big names as a free agent.