State of the Cap: Miami HeatBy:

2010/11 Miami Heat Payroll: $24.2 million
2010/11 NBA Salary Cap: $56.1 million
Roughly: $31.9 million under cap

The Good: How do you write about a team’s salary cap when they don’t have any salaries?  $17.1 million of the Heat’s $24.2 million payroll for next season is slotted for Dwyane Wade’s player option, which he is expected to not exercise, leaving just two players under contract and two more with a team option.  That’s it.  The cupboard couldn’t be barer than in Miami, and that is by design.  The team wanted to give itself as much space as possible, not to give to Wade (there is a limit to how much he can be paid) but to give to multiple free agents to convince Wade to stay and try to win another championship.  Since their goal was to accumulate more salary cap space than any other team, I would say their plan has been a rousing success.

The Bad: If Miami was looking to impress Wade with an excellent supporting cast, they could have done a lot better in the 2008 draft than Michael Beasley.  He put up monster numbers at Kansas State, but there were some red flags about his personality that turned out to have merit.  I can’t say he has been a complete bust since he did contribute 14.8 points and 6.4 rebounds last year.  However, wouldn’t the Heat have been much better off with OJ Mayo, Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, or Brook Lopez right now?  Beasley may not be around much longer if the team is serious about building a championship contender.  When you pick near of the top of the draft like that, you need to make them count, and Miami’s selection didn’t pan out as well as they would have hoped.

There is one drawback to clearing out your cap space trying to build a winner around your superstar.  What if that superstar leaves?  It’s highly unlikely that another superstar of Wade’s caliber would sign here if he left, and truth be told, there really aren’t many who could possibly replace him anyway.  The Heat could fill their cap space with some good players, but they wouldn’t be any closer to fielding a contender than they were last year.  Obviously, this team will be doing everything in its power to keep Wade in Miami this summer.  They don’t even want to think about the alternative if they fail.

The Future: Like a few other teams in the Eastern Conference, the Heat will be waiting to hear what their best player decides to do this summer.  They are in an exciting but precarious situation.  They need to sign some good players to convince Wade to stay, but they might not want those players if Wade doesn’t stick around.  There will no doubt be a lot of phone calls to keep Wade in the loop on who is interested in joining him.  There is no way to know what all of there great players are thinking.  My gut tells me that, by the end of the summer, Wade will stay, Bosh will be with him, and a few other good veterans will take a pay cut to join them.  It’s hard to say no to the sunny beaches of Miami, especially when championship rings will be involved.

I highly doubt that LeBron and Wade will join forces anywhere.  Two mega-alpha males of that stature simply could not co-exist on the same team.  Each wants his own team to lead, and that’s not being selfish, they are simply too competitive and driven to give up some control like that.  Do you think Jordan or Kobe would share the spotlight like that?  Not on your life.  Miami will be a good team next season, even without LeBron.  They already have a star, and this one has a ring to prove it.

Grade: A-