The Heat’s two newest superstars signed matching six-year, $110.1 million contracts, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Ric Bucher. Dwyane Wade took an even bigger discount to stay in Miami, signing for six years and $107.5 million, according to the sources.
Sources told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford that James and Bosh are scheduled to make $14.5 million and Wade $14 million in 2010-11.
Each player took $15 million less over the life of the contract to sign with Miami, but the deals came with a caveat.
All three contracts, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein, have an early termination option after the fourth season that would allow LeBron, Bosh and Wade to return to free agency in the summer of 2014. Each player also possesses a player option entering the final season of the contract (2015-16).
Bosh and James’ deals were completed through sign-and-trades, making all three eligible for 10.5 percent raises each year.
The Heat sent two future first-round and two second-round picks to the Cavaliers for James, while packaging two first-round picks to the Raptors for Bosh.
Sources told ESPN that Toronto reacquired its first-round selection in 2011, which Miami had from a 2009 trade that sent Shawn Marion to the Raptors, and added the Heat’s own first rounder in 2011.
Miami then sent its first-round picks in 2013 and 2015 to the Cavaliers and Cleveland has the option to swap first-round picks in 2012, according to a league source.
Both the Raptors and the Cavs will receive trade exceptions valued at $14.5 million, sources told ESPN.com.
So Toronto and Cleveland (!!!) cooperated after all, participating in sign-and-trades to enable Bosh and LeBron to get extra money on their deals. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but both teams will get two late first round picks and a giant trade exception that they can use over the next year.
What’s a trade exception, you ask? It allows a team that’s over the cap to trade for a player without having to trade a player with matching salaries (within 125%). So, for example, if the Raptors are over the cap, and they want to trade for Luol Deng, who gets paid $12 million per season, they can use this $14.5 million trade exception to acquire him without sending any players to Chicago. When two teams that are over the cap make a trade, it generally needs to be even salary-wise. The trade exception is a workaround.
