Miami Heat Rumors: Could Luol Deng be released in 2015?

The Miami Heat went out and signed Luol Deng away from the Bulls, Hawks, Rockets and everyone else who was interested in him, but they may not have him around for long.

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It’s not that the Heat are already planning for life after Deng, but there seems to be no sense of entitlement when it comes to the swingman as the Heat are forward thinking and what’s on their mind at the moment isn’t how well Deng will do, it’s how well he needs to do in order to get paid in 2015.

According to Steve Kyler from Basketball Insiders, this upcoming season for Deng needs to be a strong one, as he’s not promised anything past the 2014-15 season.

"Deng needs to have a strong season in Miami if he hopes to cash in. The structure of his deal with the HEAT allows for him to opt-out in July, something he will likely do if he can out-play his contract.Deng is a 50/50 candidate for free agency in July. Those odds go up if he returns to All-Star form."

One thing Deng can do is thrive in an environment where wining is all that happens. Miami may have lost in the NBA Finals last season, but the team hasn’t missed the playoffs in four seasons and that’s something that Deng knows from his years with the Bulls and could thrive off of in the best of ways in Miami — at least, it sounds like he needs to.

Be sure to check FanSided.com’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.