Aldridge bypasses Heat long-shot bid, will join S.A.
ORLANDO — As expected, dinner without the salary-cap cash to pay the overall bill only gets you so far during NBA free agency.
To some, that left Pat Riley and the Miami Heat with their just desert with their long-shot bid to lure LaMarcus Aldridge, with the Portland Trail Blazers free-agent power forward confirming Saturday he instead will sign with the San Antonio Spurs.
“I’m happy to say I’m going home to Texas and will be a Spur!!,” Aldridge posted on Twitter. “I’m excited to join the team and be close to my family and friends.”
The Spurs and Phoenix Suns were believed to be the two finalists for Aldridge. Beyond those two teams and the Heat, the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors all had audiences with Aldridge before he made his decision.
Before even concluding his free-agent negotiations with Dwyane Wade, Riley flew to Los Angeles for a Thursday dinner meeting with Aldridge, despite the Heat lacking the salary-cap space to immediately close a deal.
The Spurs, by contrast, created the needed salarycap space earlier in the week by trading center Tiago Splitter to the Atlanta Hawks.
There had been thought that Riley merely was setting Aldridge up for Heat overtures next summer, when the Heat would have the ability to create ample salary-cap space, perhaps by having Aldridge take a two-year deal elsewhere this summer with an optout in the second year, to possibly have him back on the market next summer, when the NBA salary cap is expected to rise $20 million. Instead, Aldridge is now locked into a four-year, $80 million contract with San Antonio. The Spurs ended the Heat’s two-year NBA championship run in 2014, but then went out in the first round of this past season’s playoffs.
With the loss of Aldridge, the Heat’s next pursuit of a prime free agent figures to come next summer, a class headed by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant.
Durant on Saturday stopped by Amway Center to watch the Thunder’s summer-league team and meet with the team’s new coaching staff, led by former University of Florida coach Billy Donovan.
Asked about next summer’s free agency, Durant said, “I hear from every side, thinking past to next summer ... I hear all the time, but I’m just focusing on rehab.”
Of the current free-agent free-for-all, he said, “It’s a fun time being in the NBA.”
While not referring to his own plans, he took no issue with Aldridge leaving the Blazers to join the Spurs, also referring to LeBron James’ free-agency departure last summer from the Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“At this point of your life and your career,” he said, “you’ve got to focus on you.
“I said this last year when Mr. James made his decision, it was pretty cool to see a guy really do what he wants to do and not worry about what everyone else thinks.”
While the Heat at least got Aldridge’s attention, it would have taken considerable maneuvering from Riley and his front-office staff to make a sign-and-trade with the Trail Blazers for Aldridge viable, if Portland even would have acquiesced to such a proposition.
Among pieces Riley might have had to put in play in such a permutation could have been Chris Bosh, Luol Deng, Chris Andersen, Josh McRoberts, Mario Chalmers, or perhaps others.
Instead, the Heat’s primary work in free agency appears to be complete, with Deng opting into the final year of the two-year contract he signed last summer, with Wade agreeing to a one-year, $20 million contract Thursday, and with Goran Dragic agreeing to a five-year, $90 million deal a day earlier.
The consensus of executives at the Orlando summer league is that the Heat, even without additional moves, are poised for a quantum leap from this past season’s lottery finish.
The Heat’s next decision during free agency figures to come down to whether the team will utilize its $3.4 million taxpayer mid-level exception to further bolster the roster. Because of the Heat’s current position against the luxury tax, such an addition could cost as much as $20 million total, when factoring in the luxury-tax payment to the league.
More likely now, because of where the Heat stand against the tax, are attempts to excise salary from the current payroll.
While the Heat ultimately utilized free agency to keep the team’s core intact, it was hardly a case of losing ground in the Eastern Conference, with the bulk of top-tier free agents moving within the Western Conference. About the only East team so far to upgrade with significant free-agent talent from the stronger Western Conference are the Indiana Pacers, who added guard Monta Ellis from the Mavericks. With lesser West-to-East moves, the New York Knicks added Derrick Williams from the Sacramento Kings and Robin Lopez and Arron Afflalo from the Trail Blazers.
While agreements on trades and negotiations on free-agent contracts were allowed starting Monday, such deals cannot be closed until Thursday, when the salary cap and luxury tax will be set for the 2015-16 season.
Among others the Heat had been linked to in free agency who signed elsewhere were Ellis; Spurs free-agent guard Marco Belinelli, who signed with the Kings; and Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea, who elected to remain in Dallas.