The Miami Heat are coming into free agency working to keep LeBron James and the rest of the Big 3 this offseason and names like Luol Deng, Chandler Parsons, Kyle Lowry, Eric Bledsoe and Pau Gasol could be options for Pat Riley to sign to ensure that his stars remain in South Beach and LeBron will be watching closely to see what moves he pulls off.
The Heat are looking to re-tool after losing the NBA finals to the San Antonio Spurs and with all three members of the Big 3 on the market, the team has some moves to make. According to Pro Basketball Talk, Luol Deng is a top option on the market and Riley has already called his reps to say that the team has "significant interest" in Deng. Other reports from earlier in the offseason had names like Kyle Lowry and Chandler Parsons in the mix and they also could be options for Miami.
Eric Bledsoe is a restricted free agent so he likely is out of the mix, while Pau Gasol could be an option as well if he opts to leave the Lakers and doesn't sign with the Knicks. Deng is a primary target and other teams are interested in him as well, including the Los Angeles Lakers, NY Knicks, Chicago Bulls and Dallas Mavericks and his price could get driven up out of the range for Miami. James reportedly wants a max deal and that could limit the Heat in what they want to do salary-wise, but over the past three years they have done a good job of handling that. The Bulls will speak with Deng after trading him last season and he could be in line for a nice deal on the free agent market.
Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and James will all be signing new deals if they stay in Miami and Bosh and Wade may have to take less money if James wants a max deal. The Heat reportedly were interested in signing Carmelo Anthony to a deal, but that appears to be off the table now and Deng and Kyle Lowry are likely the two top candidates to sign for the Heat. Deng is athletic and is still in his prime and he could be a double-double player with the Heat even with James and he is getting chased by the Clippers and Atlanta Hawks as well.
Lowry and Parsons are also options to sign and Lowry is coming off of a great season with the Raptors and now PBT reports that he is getting an offer for $12 million salary from the team. Parsons is a restricted free agent and could be harder to sign and teams like the Lakers, Timberwolves and Knicks all could be going after him as well. James and Anthony are the biggest names on the free agent market this year and names like Deng and Lowry will command attention and money and that leaves players like Greg Monroe, Lance Stephenson and Goran Dragic as options as well.
James is going to stay in Miami most likely, but he wants the Heat to make some major moves for him to get back there.
