WINDERMAN

from Walker, who has appeared in only 11 career playoff games, never advancing out of the first round over his nine seasons.

The Celtics have significant playoff visions, a vantage point heretofore unseen for Walker.

Kawhi Leonard: The Clippers made their threeyear, $103 million investment well aware that, amid the seemingly mandated load management, it would never have been about the regular season with Kawhi.

And, still, there also is a ticking clock, with Leonard (and Paul George) holding opt outs for the 2021 offseason.

If not playoff success this season for the Clippers with Leonard, then when?

Kristaps Porzingis: This is the type of moment of truth Porzingis never was afforded in New York, a chance to prove his value in the playoffs.

For the Mavericks, the five-year, $158 million contract extended last summer was about building something alongside Luka Doncic that could make a Western Conference playoff statement. Statement time is at hand.

Khris Middleton: The five-year, $178 million contract was as much about the Milwaukee Bucks showing Giannis Antetokounmpo a willingness to spend as it was about hoping to show Antetokounmpo a path beyond last season’s Eastern Conference finals.

Middleton has been very good this season. But something closer to great might be required in the playoffs to keep Giannis’ attention when it comes to extension time.

Malcolm Brogdon: The Indiana Pacers put themselves in an interesting spot by going three years at $85 million with Brogdon. The move could serve as an enticement for Victor Oladipo to extend this summer, or leave the Pacers as a middle-ground oneand-done playoff team.

Now, with Oladipo opting to bypass Disney, as well as Brogdon’s positive COVID test, a 2020 playoff read might be lost. Or, with a breakout postseason by

Brogdon, it could show the Bucks (and Giannis) what they allowed to get away.

Kentavious CaldwellPope: To some, the twoyear, $16 million contract was as much about Caldwell-Pope’s working relationship with LeBron James and James’ agency. But with Avery Bradley bypassing the NBA’s resumption, this could be a moment, after a solid season, when dividends are provided from last summer’s agreement.

Or would you rather trust Dion Waiters? Or J.R. Smith? (With, of course, all due respect to Alex Caruso.)

JJ Redick: Another relatively small deal (in NBA dollars) that could provide significant payoff, if Reddick, with the two-year, $26 million deal he signed last summer, is able to get Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans into the playoffs.

And if there are playoffs for Redick, it could be (as possibly with Butler) a reminder of what the 76ers let get away.

IN THE LANE

BENCH MODE: Statistically, Hassan Whiteside is having another solid season, this time with the Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 16.3 points, 14.2 rebounds, 3.1 blocks. But the reality of an uncertain future for the former Heat center is coming into focus, with both Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins expected back from lengthy injury layoffs for the NBA resumption. Both guard Damian Lillard and coach Terry Stotts have indicated that Nurkic and Collins will be the starting power rotation when the Blazers open play at Disney. Such a forward-thinking approach makes sense with Whiteside to be a free agent in the offseason and Nurkic on the Blazers’ books for $14 million next season and Collins for $5.4 million. Stotts basically confirmed that Nurkic and Carmelo Anthony will be two of his frontcourt starters, leaving open the longshot pairing of Nurkic-Whiteside. “Why

not?” Stotts quipped. “It’ll give you guys something to write about.” Recall, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra all but went out of his way to avoid pairing Whiteside with another center, be it Bam Adebayo or Kelly Olynyk. Stotts said there will not be minutes restrictions on either Nurkic or Collins. For his part, Lillard said he “absolutely” expects Nurkic-Collins to be the opening power pairing. “Getting Nurk and Zach back, we’re a different team with those guys,” Lillard said. Ultimately, that would make it consecutive seasons that Whiteside closes as a reserve, hardly the optimal way to go into free agency.

TRADE RESET: In the end, the true cost of the Heat’s 2015 trade for Goran Dragic could come down to the second of the two first-round picks the Heat sent to the Phoenix Suns in exchange. The first of the two picks was spent on Zhaire Smith. As in the forward who again is injured, this time out for the resumption of the season for the Philadelphia 76ers due to a knee injury. Smith was selected out of Texas Tech by the Suns at the Heat’s No. 16 slot in 2018 and then dealt along with the Heat’s unprotected

2021 first-round pick to the

76ers in exchange Mikal Bridges. That Heat 2021 pick now belongs to the Oklahoma City Thunder. As for Smith, the sum total of his first two NBA seasons has been 13 regular-season appearances, having also suffered a foot injury and severe allergic reaction along the way.

SECOND CHANCE: To appreciate the now fullcircle impact of the offer sheet the Brooklyn Nets extended to then-Heat guard Tyler Johnson in July 2016 is to appreciate the far-reaching impact. First, there was the $50 million, four-year scope. “I threw up a couple of times when I heard the number go out there. I was in shock,” Johnson said at the time, after the Heat matched the offer. To that point Johnson had not earned more than $845,000 in a season. But with the contract backloaded, it left the Heat with a pair of $19 million seasons on the back end. Hard up against the luxury tax, the Heat in

2018-19 sold off Johnson to the Suns, at the cost of taking on the albatross contract of forward Ryan Anderson. The penalty there? The Heat are paying Anderson $5.2 million this season, as well as that sum in each of the next two seasons, a sum that eats into the Heat’s valued

2021-22 cap space (also known as the Summer of Giannis Antetokounmpo). As for the Nets, by not having that Johnson contract on their books, it left the funding to sign both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last summer. And, now, with the Suns having waived Johnson in February, the Nets signed Johnson for $245,686 for the balance of the season, as they prepare for the league’s resumption. It is a total roughly equal to Johnson’s game check these past two seasons. The opportunity could be there at Disney World for Johnson to possibly resurrect his career, with Irving and Durant sidelined, and with Spencer Dinwiddie now dealing with COVID-19. If Dinwiddie is unable to go, it would leave Johnson and former University of Florida standout Chris Chiozza as the Nets’ lone point guards.

DUNCAN’S DILEMMA: Duncan Robinson‘s appearance on The Dan Patrick Show eventually turned to the New Hampshire native growing up a New England Patriots fan and now finding himself somewhat in hostile territory. “I did grow up a Patriots fan, yes,” the Heat guard said. “I will say, it gets tough as you get older, your loyalty kind of shifts. Now I feel like I’m very much a citizen of the city of Miami. So I was excited to see they drafted Tua [Tagovailoa]. I’m excited for the future. In my heart, I will also be a Patriots fan, also.”

NUMBER

$2.9 million. Heat luxury-tax payment for the season, as one of four teams in the tax for excessive team payroll (the others: Portland, $5.9 million; Oklahoma City, $2.5 million; Minnesota, $582,000). The total from those four teams will be split among the 26 non-tax teams.