Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
It’s Kelly Olynyk to Heat
James Johnson to return; Josh McRoberts traded to Mavericks
Team also re-signs James Johnson.
MIAMI — Two days after Gordon Hayward had his say, Pat Riley had himself a night.
Stung by Hayward’s decision to sign with the Boston Celtics, the Miami Heat in 48 hours firmed up their roster with salary-cap machinations that Thursday included: agreeing to terms with Celtics free-agent forward Kelly Olynyk, finalizing the framework for a deal to bring back free-agent forward James Johnson, and unloading the contract of injury-plagued power forward Josh McRoberts to potentially retain 3-point specialist Wayne Ellington.
That flurry from Riley, General Manager Andy Elisburg and the rest of the Heat front office came a day after reaching a four-year, $52 million agreement with free-agent guard Dion Waiters.
Olynyk, a 7-footer equally as comfortable with shooting 3-pointers as passing from the post, agreed to a four-year, $50 million deal that includes a player option in the final season.
As for the maneuvering with McRoberts, the Heat, according to Yahoo Sports, unloaded his $6 million 2017-18 salary to the Dallas Mavericks along with a future second-round draft pick in exchange for the rights to A.J. Hammons, a 7-foot 2016 second-round pick out of Purdue who split last season between the Mavericks and their developmental-league affiliate.
Olynyk, who has had a history of rugged play against the Heat and other teams, including Kevin Love’s shoulder injury in the 2015 playoffs, confirmed the agreement on Twitter with emojis of a smiley face and a palm tree.
Among Olynyk’s career highlights was his 12-point outburst in the fourth quarter of the Game 7 victory over the Washington Wizards that put the Celtics in this past season’s Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics earlier this week had to renounce their right-of-first-refusal to Olynyk, who had been a restricted free agent at the start of free agency, to clear the needed salary-cap space to add Hayward. The Heat, Celtics and Utah Jazz were the three finalists for Hayward, who announced his decision Tuesday.
Olynyk, the No. 13 pick in the 2013 NBA draft out of Gonzaga, likely will take the role Luke Babbitt, an unsigned free agent, held with the Heat last season. Otherwise, the Heat will return almost the entire 2016-17 core that went 31-10 over the second half of the season.
To that core, the Heat have added Olynyk, firstround draft choice Bam Adebayo, the big man out of Kentucky, and will get back forward Justise Winslow, who missed the second half of this past season following shoulder surgery.
As for Ellington, he has a Friday deadline for the Heat to guarantee his $6.3 million 2017-18 salary, space that now appears to have been cleared with the trade of McRoberts, who never gained traction with the Heat after being signed in the 2014 offseason that the Heat lost LeBron James to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Heat still have the option to bring back Babbitt and team captain Udonis Haslem at minimum salaries without regard to the salary cap. Haslem has been all but assured a return.
It now appears, with the addition of Olynyk and the drafting of Adebayo, that center Willie Reed will be allowed to depart in free agency. Reed has received reported interest from the Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers.
There had been thought that Sacramento Kings free-agent Rudy Gay could fill a Heat void at small forward, but he agreed Thursday night to a two-year deal with the San Antonio Spurs.
With the Heat’s offseason work seemingly almost done, save for utilizing their $4.3 million midlevel salary-cap exception, next season’s Heat roster could set up around a core of:
Center: Hassan Whiteside, Bam Adebayo, Udonis Haslem
Power forward: Kelly Olynyk, James Johnson, Okaro White
Small forward: Justise Winslow, Rodney McGruder
Shooting guard: Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, Wayne Ellington
Point guard: Goran Dragic, Tyler Johnson.
That would leave two open roster spots, plus the ability to add two players to two-way contracts for their Sioux Falls Skyforce development-league affiliate.