Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant (Photo : Sam Greenwood | Getty Images Sport)
The Miami Heat are reportedly setting their sight on the free-agency class of 2017, especially if they end up empty handed in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes this summer, according to Ira Winderman of South Florida Sun Sentinel. No other than Heat president Pat Riley confirmed in a press release through its in-house media outlets about their plan to make a big splash in the 2016 and 2017 free-agency.
"You've got to really see the big picture in where you are," Riley said in the press release via South Florida Sun Sentinel. "From 2014 to this point, once LeBron left, we had some decisions to make. We had always been looking at 2016 and 2017. Just like back in 2006 we looked at 2010."
-With the salary cap projected to increase significantly two years from now, the Heat are looking into bringing at least two max-level free-agents to South Beach, forming another 'superteam' that could rival the success of LeBron-Dwyane Wade-Chris Bosh era.
-Riley is still hopeful of landing this year's free-agency top cog Kevin Durant, despite the report by Adrian Wojnarowski of the Vertical Yahoo Sports pointing the Golden State Warriors as the front-runner in the event he leaves the Oklahoma City Thunder.
-If they failed to acquire Durant, the Heat will then shift their focus on the next free-agency class, in which the likes of Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and other elite players will be available. Sportsrageous.com speculated that Westbrook and Griffin are the two players on top of Miami's wish list. With Chris Bosh long-term future in question, the Heat are poised to make a strong push for the double-double machine in 2017. Westbrook, on the other, is a no brainer simply because of his status as a top-5 point guard in the league.
