As Heat president Pat Riley mulls what kind of contract terms to offer James Johnson and Dion Waiters – if Riley cannot land Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin in free agency - here’s one thing he knows he needs to consider: whether to tie up all of Miami’s cap space in 2018, when LeBron James, Paul George, LaMarcus Aldridge, DeMarcus Cousins, Russell Westbrook and Isaiah Thomas can all become free agents.
The cap, rising to $99 million this offseason, is projected to increase to only $103 million in 2018-19, perhaps slightly less.