Miami Heat rumors: Waiting on Pau Gasol, Luol Deng, Trevor Ariza
By Bryan Rose
When LeBron James opted-out of his contract with the Miami Heat, he informed Pat Riley and the rest of the front office that they needed to better the roster if he was to return. That lead to speculation that some of the second tier free agents like Kyle Lowry and Marcin Gortat would be of interest to the Miami Heat, however both re-signed with their former teams for sums the Heat couldn’t have offered.
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That has lead the Heat to explore other options which include players like Pau Gasol, Luol Deng and Trevor Ariza. In fact, they’ve apparently explored them all as according to Ethan Skolnick, the Miami Heat are waiting on an answer from all three players.
"Heat waiting on answers from main trio they are pursuing (Gasol/Deng/Ariza). All longshots to some degree, w/ Ariza least likely."
As Skolnick notes, Ariza seems to be unlikely considering he has drawn the most NBA interest of all the three players mentioned. That’s not to say Gasol nor Deng haven’t had their own fair share, but Ariza has multiple suitors chasing him.
In terms of Deng, the Atlanta Hawks are the most recent team who have been linked to the two-way player but there have also been rumors suggesting he wants upwards of $10-12 million dollars per season. Clearly, that is not something the Miami Heat can afford assuming they retain LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.
As for Pau Gasol, he could be obtainable as he’s not likely to command a hefty salary, though he appears to be waiting to see if Carmelo Anthony will sign with the Los Angeles Lakers before he makes his own free agent decision.