The Heat have Hassan Whiteside committed to a max (or so) contract. They want to sign Kevin Durant. Oh, and they have to squeeze in an increasingly impatient Dwyane Wade.
So, the Nets are putting the screws to Miami with Tyler Johnson.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports:Miami Heat restricted free-agent guard Tyler Johnson has agreed to sign a four-year, $50 million offer sheet with the Brooklyn Nets, league sources told The Vertical.
In the next four years, because of the Arenas rule, Johnson will make:
- $5,628,000
- $5,881,260
- between $18,858,766 and $19,648,157
- between$18,842,583 and $19,631,975
If the Heat match, his cap hit will match his salary. If they don’t, his cap hit will be $12.5 million each season.
This is a big decision for Miami.
Johnson’s cap hold is just $1,180,431 right now. That’s low enough where the Heat could attend to their big-ticket shopping before he signs an offer sheet, which he can do Thursday.
But if Miami needs more time, that could be a problem. The Heat can’t directly sign Johnson to a contract this large. They can give it to Johnson only by matching an offer sheet. So, Johnson needs the Nets -- and they won’t want to make this process easier on Miami. Brooklyn will probably demand he sign immediately.
The Heat meet with Durant today. That’ll give them more perspective on how to handle Johnson.