Miami Heat won’t use cap space until 2016?

While the Miami Heat aren’t expected to be title contenders without LeBron James on their roster, they should still find themselves in contention for a playoff spot this season.

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What’s to come next year is still an unknown though it’s very unlikely the Miami Heat will use any available cap space to help build the roster at season end. That’s because the Miami Heat are waiting until the NBA’s new salary cap structure kicks into gear.

When such happens it’s expected the Miami Heat (along with every other team in the NBA) will see much more space on their cap allowing them to sign higher priced free agents. That’s something team president Pat Riley seems to be eying as he told the Sun Sentential.

"While several Heat players, including Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng and Danny Granger have opt-out clauses for the 2015 offseason, Riley indicated the focus is on 2016 and the infusion of significant salary-cap space throughout the NBA.“It could be next year,” Riley said of a possible Heat overhaul. “They could opt out next year and we could be in the game next year.”But asked if he specifically would cut into the team’s potential 2016 cap space, Riley said, “No. I don’t think we will.”"

While such an idea seems to be proactive the Miami Heat aren’t going to be the only team with a significant amount of money to spend as it’s believed the Los Angeles Lakers could have enough space to offer three maximum level contracts at the same time.

Still, outside of major players like the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and aforementioned Lakers, the Miami Heat are likely to be one of the prime free agent destinations so it’s hard to begrudge the franchise for laying their cards on the table.

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