Miami Heat nearing resolution with Chris Bosh, could get max cap room

The Miami Heat are nearing a resolution with former All-Star Chris Bosh that will enable them to release him and take him off their books.

With Dwyane Wade leaving the Miami Heat this past summer as a free agent, Chris Bosh was the only remaining member of the infamous Big Three that won titles in the early 2010s. Only Bosh was not on the floor either.

Blood clots the last two years have kept Bosh on the sidelines. And despite Bosh’s eagerness to play this season, the Miami Heat’s doctors were unwilling to clear him. It kept the former All-Star center in a state of flux. It also kept the team in a weird state, banding together without its star for a surprising 41-41 season.

The Heat knew their future would be tied to Bosh still. Miami was giving Bosh a max salary and they were not going to have a draft pick in 2018. This was the year Miami needed something bright to happen in the summer.

Miami will pick with the 14th pick in the NBA Draft. So the team’s future seems somewhat set in stone.

Now a small glimmer for both the Heat and even for Bosh.

Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports the Heat and Bosh are nearing an agreement that will enable the Heat to take Bosh’s salary off their books while allowing Bosh to play elsewhere.

Bosh is finishing a max contract that will pay him roughly $52.1 million for the next two seasons. That would obviously clog the Heat’s books and make it difficult for them to make any free agent moves.

The league typically does not allow contracts to come off the books under these circumstances, even in the case of injury. Under the CBA that is set to expire June 30, if the Heat waived Bosh and he played at any time, his salary would count against their salary cap in full. This is why the Heat were hesitant to let him walk or cut him. That would be quite the tax bill if all of a sudden $25 million were put back onto their cap sheets.

But under the new CBA, the league will waive the salary cap hit for players that a panel of doctors have determined it is unsafe for a player to continue playing. The Heat, Bosh, the league and the players association are working on a one-time dispensation to allow Bosh to be released without hurting the Heat’s cap situation under this new provision in the league’s CBA.

Bosh still appears as though he wants to play. He said on TNT’s Players Only broadcast that he was healthy and working out again. He averaged 19.1 points per game in an All-Star 2016 season before blood clots discovered while he was fatigued at the All-Star Break forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

For the Heat, this is an economic boom. Insurance is already paying most of Bosh’s contract (and will continue to do so even if he gets cut). But the team certainly could use the salary cap relief from removing Bosh from their rolls.

Miami has $74.7 million in guaranteed salary owed for next season including Bosh’s salary. With a $102 million projected cap, the Heat suddenly will become players for free agency next season with one, maybe two max salary slots to use.

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This is a huge benefit for Miami. And likely a huge benefit for Bosh now too. He would be free to try and continue his basketball career. If someone will clear him to play.