Erik Spoelstra, the Miami Heat coach, did not plan to begin his summer in early May. He expected to be busy coaching the Heat in the second round of the playoffs right now. “I literally wasn’t planning on these next two months looking like this,” Spoelstra said on Heat exit interview day earlier this month. “So we have a much longer offseason.”
What’s next for the Heat? Here’s a player-by-player breakdown entering the 2024 offseason
The Heat had a lengthier offseason than previous seasons, reaching the Eastern Conference finals in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2023 before being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs this year by the Boston Celtics on May 1. However, the Heat’s long summer will be filled with work to develop next season’s roster, as the NBA Draft Combine takes place in Chicago this week. The Heat and other NBA teams will be busy evaluating draft prospects over the next month.
Here’s a rundown of the notable dates and deadlines to know about.
May 12-19: The NBA draft combine will be held in Chicago. The Heat will be well represented at the combine, as they always are. The Heat’s president Pat Riley, general manager Andy Elisburg, assistant general manager Adam Simon, vice president of player personnel Eric Amsler, director of college and pro scouting Keith Askins, scouts Bob Staak, Jack Fitzgerald, and Bob McAdoo, senior director of team development Ruth Hunter, and scouting operations coordinator Jeff Saunders are all expected to attend.
June 15 or shortly after: The Heat and other NBA teams can start negotiating with their own imminent free agents on the day after the NBA Finals’ last game, which could be as early as June 15 or as late as June 24. For the Heat, this means negotiations may begin with Caleb Martin (if he declines his $7.1 million player option, as expected), Haywood Highsmith, and others.
June 26: The Miami Heat have the 15th overall pick in the NBA Draft’s first round. The Heat is not allowed to trade their first-round pick before the draft because it owes the Oklahoma City Thunder a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2025, and the NBA prohibits teams from going without consecutive future first-round picks. However, the Heat may select a player in the draft on behalf of another team as part of a trade that is agreed upon prior to or during the draft but announced and ratified thereafter.
June 27: The Miami Heat have the 43rd overall pick in the NBA Draft’s second round. NBA teams can buy and trade second-round picks.
June 29: The deadline for most contract options in the NBA. This is the deadline for Thomas Bryant ($2.8 million player option), Kevin Love ($4 million player option), Martin ($7.1 million player option), and Josh Richardson ($3.1 million player option) to exercise the 2024-25 player options in their contracts and remain with the Heat. If they do not exercise the player options in their contracts, they will be unrestricted free agents this summer. This is also the last day for the Heat to extend qualifying offers to Jamal Cain, Cole Swider, and Alondes Williams, making them restricted free agents.
June 30: Free agent discussions can start at 6 p.m. The Heat’s own upcoming free agents include Highsmith, Patty Mills, and Delon Wright, among others.
July 1: The NBA’s free agency embargo begins at 12:01 a.m. for all contracts except first-round picks and two-year minimum deals. Restricted free agents can still sign offer sheets, and third- and fourth-year rookie options can be exercised. Two-way contracts can still be signed and converted under the ban.
July 6: The NBA’s moratorium ends at noon, allowing teams to sign free agents, make salary-cap swaps, and start the clock on offer sheets signed during the moratorium. This is also the date when the Heat are slated to begin summer league play as part of the California Classic at Chase Center in San Francisco. The game schedule is yet to be confirmed.
July 7: Both Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler are now eligible for extensions. Adebayo, who turns 27 on July 18, is eligible to sign a four-year, $245 million extension with the Heat this offseason provided he passes the supermax requirements. The only way Adebayo can still qualify for the supermax this offseason is to be picked to an All-NBA team (first, second, or third) for this season, which will be announced later in the playoffs. If Adebayo does not qualify for the supermax, he will be available for a three-year, $165 million contract this summer. Any extension Adebayo signs this offseason will begin in the 2026-27 season.
Butler, who turns 35 on September 14, will be able to negotiate a two-year contract deal worth approximately $113 million this offseason. This agreement would replace his $52.4 million player option for 2025-26, beginning that season. This two-year max agreement would include salaries of $54.3 million for the 2025-26 season (almost $2 million more than the player option on Butler’s existing contract for that season) and $58.6 million for the 2026-2027 season, when Butler will be 37 years old. The Heat have until June 30, 2025 to sign Butler to this two-year max agreement, but Butler and his camp will want to sign it before the start of the next season.
July 12: The Las Vegas summer league begins and runs through July 22. After competing in the California Classic, the Heat will join the league’s other 29 clubs in the Las Vegas summer league. The game schedule is yet to be confirmed.
July 13: The last day to withdraw a qualifying offer from a restricted free agent. Cain, Swider, and Williams could become restricted free agents for the Heat this summer.
July 15: The deadline for the Heat to guarantee developing center Orlando Robinson’s entire $2.1 million salary for the following season. If the Heat does not guarantee Robinson’s salary, he will become an unrestricted free agency.
July 27: Men’s basketball at the Summer Olympics in Paris began on this day, with games running until August 10. Spoelstra will be an assistant coach for Team USA, and Adebayo is one of 12 players on the national team’s roster. Meanwhile, two more Heat players are likely to compete in the Olympics this summer: Nikola Jovic for Serbia and Patty Mills for Australia.
Aug. 31: This is the last day for NBA clubs to use the waive-and-stretch clause ahead of next season, which allows teams to save money by releasing a player and spreading the money owed to him over future seasons.
Oct. 1: The Heat are expected to begin training camp for the 2024-25 season on this day.
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