The Miami Heat continue to battle with Dwyane Wade over what his future will look like. The shooting guard has until the beginning of July to make a call about his future in Miami and in the meantime the team is looking at other options in free agency should their biggest star depart. While the two sides have not formally spoken in a few weeks, Wade and team president Pat Riley are scheduled to talk before the star makes his decision.
According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, Wade and the Miami Heat are going to sit down and discuss his future within the next week as the team is hopeful to get a contract agreement nailed down. When Wade signed a new deal last offseason, he was expected to opt in on a $16 million option before becoming a free agent in 2016. However, Wade wants a long-term deal instead to better secure his future and he wants a raise. Shelburne is reporting the Heat's offer was $10 million per season for Wade should he opt out which is yet another pay cut they are expecting the star to take. Wade is not happy.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald is reporting there is a real chance that Wade leaves in free agency. The Los Angeles Lakers are putting on the hard sell for the shooting guard to join the team which would leave Miami looking elsewhere for scoring help. The Miami Herald is reporting that Toronto Raptors star Lou Williams is eyeing a trip down to South Beach. His market value is believed to be somewhere around the $27-$35 million range over three to four years. That means Williams can only come to Miami if either Wade, Luol Deng or Goran Dragic leaves.
The Heat are preparing to give Dragic a five-year contract so he is expected to stay. ESPN.com reported the point guard likes the idea of staying in Miami and the Heat can offer him a better contract than anyone else. However, that five-year deal will eat up a lot of cap space that will hurt Wade's leverage even more. It would also mean that a player like Williams can only sign for the mid-level exception value of $5.5 million.
The Heat have a few options they can look at with Wade out. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, Jimmy Butler is eyeing short-term offer sheets in order to capitalize when the NBA salary cap increases. The Heat would work with that. Arron Afflalo is opting out of his contract and could be a primary target for the Heat in the offseason. Most of their offseason plans revolve around what Wade will do. The Heat want the shooting guard to simply opt in and end the drama, but Wade is thinking of a pay day and might not back down.