Will the Miami Heat Big Three Opt-Out?
The Miami Heat have finally taken over first place in the Eastern conference with just a handful of regular season games left before the start of the postseason.
However, owners and management have much more to worry about than just wins and losses and another NBA championship. The long-term future of the team is at hand, as the Big Three of the Heat – LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade – all have contracts with opt-outs when this season ends.
However, to date no collective decision between the teammates has been made regarding their future. The question in the minds of all Heat fans is will the three choose to become free agents and test their worth on the open market.
All three met prior to making their decisions on free-agency back in 2010 and another such meeting could be in the works prior to the opt-out deadline of June 30, which allows all three to leave in either 2014, ’15, or ’16.
On Tuesday of this week, Wade revealed that all three, who have reached three consecutive NBA Finals and were victorious in the past two, are planning to have a conversation at some time prior to June 30 about each of their futures and the decisions to stay or leave the franchise.
Wade said he is at a point now that he does not worry about what will happen. He also was with the Heat when they won the title in 2006. He has played with Miami for 11 years.
He says he will meet with Bosh and James, but the ultimate decision he will make will be the best one for he and his family.
Bosh last week hinted he and James would likely stay with the Heat when he was asked the question. He said when the contracts were signed in 2010 each made sure the option was available.
Wade stressed that players only have a certain amount of time to play and need options open to them to make a change if needed.
Wade accepted a pay cut and not a max deal to help Miami add team depth in 2010 to the roster. The team might ask him this summer to do that again.
Wade’s contract is scheduled to pay him $42 million over the last two years of his contract, making them the most lucrative years of his entire career.
However, the Heat might persuade him and others on the roster to take discounts again in an attempt to win more NBA Titles.
Miami could become the first franchise to pay the repeater tax, which could triple and possibly quadruple penalties in for luxury tax from the rates in 2010 when the Big Three originally signed.
Of late, players such as Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett have opted out of contracts, then lowering their  personal salaries to help the club with tax issues. They in turn are usually compensated with more guaranteed money in their new contract.
June 30 will come very soon for the Heat and the Big Three will need to sit down prior to that date to see if the Heat go forward intact or the team is broken into pieces and needs to be rebuilt.
