Riley makes his move

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

With Riley finally going for it, that leaves us as the only team save the 
Knicks and Atlanta without a major move or signing...

DJessen33

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Heat ready to offer Brand $82.2M

By Ira Winderman 
and Harvey Fialkov Staff Writers 
Posted July 16 2003 

Less than a week after saying he might take a passive approach to the NBA's 
free-agent signing period, Heat coach Pat Riley is poised to make a splash 
similar to those he previously has made in South Florida with the high-stakes 
additions of Alonzo Mourning, Eddie Jones and Brian Grant.

Los Angeles Clippers power forward Elton Brand was in South Florida on 
Tuesday and today will be extended a contract offer from the Heat that could be as 
high as $82.2 million over six years -- the most an outside team can offer.


  

 
  
 

  

 
Riley spoke last week of avoiding the type of contracts he previously 
extended to Mourning, Jones and Grant, but hedged by adding, "There's only one player 
I would consider doing that for."

That player turned out to be Brand.

Unlike the Heat's previous megabucks bids, this one comes with strings 
attached -- plenty of strings, including what likely will be a tense waiting period.

Because Brand is a restricted free agent, the Clippers would have 15 days to 
match a Heat offer sheet. However, the Heat and agent David Falk are believed 
to have constructed the offer sheet in a way to make it particularly 
unpalatable to notoriously tightfisted Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling.

Foremost, the Heat can make Brand's expected $10.96 million 2003-04 salary 
payable immediately and can advance additional funds into that lump-sum payment 
through accelerated signing bonuses. In addition, a maximum trade kicker is 
expected to be written into the offer, automatically accelerating remaining 
payments by 15 percent should Brand be dealt.

For the Heat, it means if Brand accepts the offer, as expected, that until 
July 30, Riley's team will be out of the free-agent market. It also means if the 
offer to Brand is not matched by the Clippers, the Heat would have to fill 
out the balance of its roster with minimum-salary players.

With Brand, 24, the Heat could field a lineup of Grant at center, Caron 
Butler and Brand at forward, and Jones and rookie Dwyane Wade in the backcourt.

More likely in the scenario of Brand being added would be a trade of a 
veteran, perhaps Jones, in a bid to either bolster needed depth at center and point 
guard, or to lessen the Heat's overall salary burden, with an eye toward 
adding another prime free agent next summer.

The addition of Brand would more than offset the free-agent loss of Mourning, 
who today will join the New Jersey Nets. The expiration of Mourning's $105 
million contract created the space for the potential addition of Brand.

While the built-in incentives in the offer sheet would allow Brand to realize 
a financial windfall by the end of the month, a decision to accept the Heat's 
offer sheet would display a faith in Riley's ability to rebuild a franchise 
that dropped to 25-57 last season and has not won a playoff game in three years.

Because NBA rules sharply favor incumbent teams when it comes to free agents, 
Brand is eligible for a far greater deal from the Clippers, one that could 
max out at $105.5 million over seven years. Under NBA rules, outside teams may 
only offer 10-percent annual raises in offer sheets, while incumbent teams may 
offer 12.5-percent raises. In addition, outside teams may only offer six-year 
contracts, while incumbent teams may offer a maximum of seven years.

Once Brand signs the offer sheet, it means Brand would be property of the 
Heat or Clippers by the end of the month. No other team is allowed to negotiate 
with the 6-foot-8 power forward once the offer sheet is executed.

While Brand is, by far, the Clippers' most productive player, he also has 
toiled for an owner reluctant to pay the going rate for productive talent. The 
largest deal previously approved by Sterling, a Los Angeles real estate magnate, 
was a five-year, $15 million package to guard Eric Piatkowski in 1998.

As much as anything, the Heat's gambit is based on timing. The Clippers are 
expected today to also receive offer sheets from the Utah Jazz and Denver 
Nuggets, respectively, for guards Corey Maggette and Andre Miller, worth about $100 
million combined.

To further give Sterling pause is the reality that if the offer for Brand is 
matched, the Heat is expected to immediately extend an offer sheet to Clippers 
forward Lamar Odom, a player Riley has coveted since the 1999 NBA Draft, when 
he offered valued forward P.J. Brown in a trade.

The Heat likely has made its intentions with Odom already known. One agent 
said Tuesday that Odom may stand as the ultimate goal, with Sterling unable to 
quickly recover from the haymaker of the Brand offer sheet.

In Brand, the Heat is looking at an undersized forward who has displayed an 
uncanny ability to get the ball to the rim as a scorer and snag it off the 
boards as a rebounder. 

Because most teams take the full 15 days to decide on offer sheets, the Heat 
will be forced to the sidelines at a time the free-agent market is being 
picked clean.