It might be irresponsible to completely toss aside the possibility of Carmelo Anthony joining the Miami Heat as a free agent because it's possible by technicality, but a more likely target for president Pat Riley is Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry. According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, the Heat and Lowry have mutual interest in joining forces.
Kyle Lowry is a more realistic free agent option for Heat than Carmelo Anthony
While there is logistically a shot for the Miami Heat to sign Carmelo Anthony if the Big Three take pay cuts, a more realistic signing this offseason is that of point guard Kyle Lowry.
Mike Ehrmann
Lowry is an unrestricted free agent. He's expected to see a pay raise from the $6.2 million he made in the final year of his last contract and could be a more viable option than Anthony when the Heat are filling in the roster around LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh should they re-sign.
The Lowry-Miami fit
Lowry shed his label as a hard-headed point guard this past season by helping the Raptors surprisingly reach the playoffs following the Rudy Gay shipment to Sacramento. He's a physical defender at the point guard slot and averaged 17.9 points, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game during the regular season. He also shot 38 percent from three-point range.
Feeling the Heat in Miami
Fitting Lowry alongside the Big Three makes a lot of sense. The former Villanova point guard not only can take the scoring load off an aging Wade but would alleviate much pressure from James in terms of breaking down defenses and making plays off the dribble. He can keep the floor stretched off the ball, and on the defensive end Lowry would be an upgrade over Mario Chalmers.
Giving James another ball handler would simply be huge for The King’s endurance as individual seasons grow old. Schematically, this would make a lot of sense.
Why it might not happen
James, Wade and Bosh have a lot to decide. To sign Anthony, those three would have to take pay cuts that might reach $6 million in annual salary each. Add that up, and it’d be very surprising if three stars would consider leaving nearly a third of their current salaries on the table -- remember, they already accepted cuts to join forces in 2010.
NBA Free Agency
The Big Three would still have to accept decently-sized salary sacrifices even for Miami to sign Lowry. If they each take $2 million in cuts from their current deals, there would be just enough room to slip the 28-year-old guard somewhere between $8 million and $10 million per season and keep Miami just under the projected $63.2 million salary cap. Then, it would still be pricy to fill in the rest of the roster.
Windhorst suggests that players like Rodney Stuckey, Marvin Williams and Trevor Ariza might be more reasonable options in terms of giving the Big Three help.
How realistic is it?
There’s no telling what will happen, and the Heat’s offseason will start with a domino effect once James formulates a plan of attack himself. The Anthony deal appears too good to be true and hard to pull off considering the money that’ll have to be left on the table. The Lowry deal is appealing for many on-court reasons, but even it would include some significant sacrifices on the parts of more than one free agent. Add in that Lowry won’t be looking at this much money again, and it’s hard to see him landing in Miami. Give it a 2 out of 10 chance of happening.
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