There are rarely NBA trades in late August or September, and the ones that do happen can best be described as a minor shuffling of contracts.
Which means Heat fans should expect to see Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers in uniform when the Heat open training camp next month. Both have long been part of trade rumors, and both have yet to be moved as there isn’t much of a market.
Expect that to continue as Heat training camp opens, reports Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald.Though there is no absolute edict from owner Micky Arison to trim payroll (and that’s beyond Miami’s control to a large extent anyway), we’re told the Heat still would prefer to lower its looming tax bill, which would be around $23 million if Miami closes the upcoming season with this current roster.
Miami remains willing to dealing Chris Andersen (due $5 million) but hasn’t found much of a market for him, according to an NBA official who has been in contact with the Heat... The Heat expects to bring Mario Chalmers to training camp (as opposed to trading him first) but hasn’t ruled out trading him in October or beyond if it can find a taker, something it hasn’t been able to do to this point.
I wonder how big a mandate lowering the tax bill actually will be. Lowering those payments has been a concern for Arison in the past (it was one thing that ticked LeBron James off) and it should be more so now. Miami faces the repeater tax this season, which would mean for every dollar over the tax line ($84.7 million) they would pay $2.50 instead of $1.50. (That’s just for the first $5 million over the line, the penalties get harsher from there.) If the Heat don’t think they have a good shot to knock Cleveland off the top of the mountain, why pay that extra cash?
Chalmers has been on the trade block since roughly Grover Cleveland’s presidency and at some point another team will need a point guard and will take him on. Probably.
Andersen couldn’t care less if the Heat are shopping him. Still, with bigs always in demand around the league, the Heat will be patient and expect teams will come calling to take on the Birdman’s $5 million deal.
