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The Miami Heat are serious about keeping soon-to-be unrestricted free agent point guard Goran Dragic in South Beach.
The Heat will aggressively pursue the 29-year-old Slovenian point guard and will offer a five-year deal worth in excess of $80 million, reports Marc Stein of ESPN. Dragic has a player option worth $7.5 million for next season but he has informed the Heat that he will decline the option to enter free agency.
The Heat acquired Dragic and his brother Zoran at the 2015 trade deadline in exchange for a package that included two future first-round draft picks. The move was made in part to help the Heat make the playoffs, but that plan was sidetracked by a season-ending injury to Chris Bosh.
Still, the move allowed the Heat to acquire Dragic's bird rights, thus allowing them to surpass the cap to re-sign Dragic. They're also the only team that can offer Dragic a five-year deal and the move also gave Dragic the opportunity to get acclimated to Miami. The city and the franchise left quite an impression on him.
"Hopefully I can stay here," Dragic said after the season.
A full, five-year maximum for Dragic would top over $100 million. A four-year max from other suitors - rumored to include the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks - would total up to $85 million. As the top free agent point guard on the market, Dragic will receive no shortage of interest.
Assuming a full five-year maximum for Dragic, the Heat could be facing a salary figure nearing $100 million for next season. Much of that can be alleviated if Dwyane Wade ($16 million) and Luol Deng ($10 million) opt out of their respective player options. The two will have until the end of June to decide for next season. Reports have suggested that Wade is unhappy with stalled negotiations and is said to be seeking $20 million per year from Miami. Committing significant funds to Dragic will likely cut into Miami's flexibility regarding Wade.
Dragic is one of the best point guards in the league, which he proved after a breakout campaign in 2013-14. That year, Dragic captured All-NBA Third Team honors. He followed that with per-game averages of 16.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds on a true-shooting percentage of 57.7 percent. He posted a 17.4 PER, on par with his career average of 17.2.
