The Miami Heat may trade Mario Chalmers, Shabazz Napier or Chris Andersen this offseason as they try and make free agent moves, as the team has brought in Goran Dragic on a near max deal and likely will sign back Dwyane Wade in free agency and this comes as JJ Barea could be a target for the team along with Lou Williams heading into the summer.
The Heat had a number of priorities at the start of free agency, including signing back Dragic and starting to work on a deal with Wade. Wade and Dragic both opted out of their deals and Miami was interested in bringing both players back for next season. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, Dragic has agreed to a five year deal worth $90 million and it has a player option after the fourth year. Woj also reports that Miami and Wade are "progressing in talks" on a contract that could be for multiple years.
Wade opted out after the two sides could not come to an agreement on a new deal and now with Dragic signed, Wade has the chance to ink a new contract. Wade reportedly is considering meeting with teams and earlier in the offseason it was reported that the Lakers had interest. But Dragic signed for less money than he needed to and Yahoo sports reported that Dragic said to Pat Riley that he wanted to sign a deal to help the team keep Wade. That appears to be a good possibility now and it comes after Wade had a strong season while averaging 20 points per game for Miami.
According to David Aldridge at NBA.com, the Heat are looking at JJ Barea and the guard is "leaning" towards a deal with Miami. Pro Basketball Talk writes that if Miami signs Barea, the team likely will look at trading either Mario Chalmers or Shabazz Napier, as Barea would give the team depth at the guard position. The team previously was shopping Chalmers and Chris Andersen according to Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN, but now they could look at moving one of the guards instead.
Miami has taken a hard line with Wade, as the Miami Herald reports that Wade is looking for a deal for three years and around $20 million per season. Miami wants some flexibility moving forward and they don't want to be hamstrung by a bad contract for a 33 year old player. Wade feels that he has taken less money from the team multiple times and now he is looking to get some on the back end. Wade is likely to return as long as his demands do not get too high for Miami.
According to PBT, Barea previously was looking for a $3 million deal and that could be in the range for Miami if they move Napier or Chalmers. Andersen is coming in with a $5 million salary and Chalmers is at $4.3 million and they are both in the final year of their contracts. That could help with trades, as teams could be more willing to pick up expiring deals over other types of contracts. Wade is likely to sign if the team makes a deal.
