Q: I’m confused why the Heat would choose to use their biannual exception for Kevin Love with only 23 games left instead of what they had remaining on their mid-level exception. I think the amount of cash was about the same for each, but now they can’t use their biannual next year when they’re definitely going to be over the cap. Is there some technical reason why they had to do this? – Adam.
A: First, the Heat, because of where they will be above the salary-cap and luxury-tax apron next season when Tyler Herrio’s extension kicks in, they would be ineligible to utilize the biannual. The biannual makes you hard-capped, and the Heat’s 2023-24 payroll already is over the hard cap. Second, you can build a longer-term deal off the mid-level. So the Heat still are positioned to offer a contract similar to the three-year, $3.9 million contract that Haywood Highsmith signed last season, and still remain below this season’s luxury tax. Such a deal could go, say, for a replacement player . Or it could be used to convert Orlando Robinson or Jamal Cain to a standard deal. Of course, with the Heat at the maximum of 15 players under standard contract, a player would have to be cut for such a move. So perhaps Zeller. Perhaps Omer Yurtseven if he can’t make it back from his ankle surgery and the Heat don’t believe they can re-sign him. Perhaps Highsmith. Remember, this is the type of machination the Heat utilized to sign Kendrick Nunn on the final day of the 2018-19 season.
Q: Ira, I’m not clear on what Kevin Love’s one-year contract entails. Do we just have him until the end of this season, or through a part or all of next season? Thanks – Ray, Deerfield Beach.
A: Just for the balance of the season. He then becomes a free agent on July 1. By signing him at $3.1 million, it means the Heat can pay more to bring him back than other teams’ minimal-scale offers, a figure close to the biannual exception. Otherwise, the Heat would have to go into their mid-level exception. Typically most buyout players wind up elsewhere in free agency.
Q: I think Kevin Love makes the Heat just a scooch better in the regular season, and maybe he helps get into the No. 6 or No. 5 spot in the seedings. But do you think in the playoffs that teams will go at him defensively, making him unplayable?.—Morgan, New Orleans.
A: First, getting to such a seeding alone would make it a value signing, because what was in place only was good enough for No. 7 and the play-in. From there, Erik Spoelstra has shown a way of masking roster deficiencies when he believes a player can make a positive contribution. He’s found a way to keep Goran Dragic on the floor in the playoffs, Duncan Robinson on the floor, Tyler Herro on the floor.
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