Report: Haslem declines player option, expected to sign new deal; hints at Bosh-Wade opt-outs
Miami Heat center Udonis Haslem has declined his 2014-15 player option, hinting at the potential plans of Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
This comes via a report from Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report:
Udonis Haslem has opted out of his contract
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 28, 2014
As explained in the post below, it was expected that Haslem could opt out and sign a new, longer-term contract that guarantees him more money in the long run while also lowering his cap hit for 2014-15, freeing up additional salary cap space for the Heat.
Most interesting is that Haslem's move - which wasn't expected to come until after Wade and Bosh had made their decisions on their early termination options - hints that Wade and Bosh are likely to opt out of their deals, as well. That's because Haslem was only likely to make this move in that scenario, and he, Wade and Bosh all share representation:
Haslem, Bosh, Wade all have same representation. So, yes, plans are in concert. Freeing up money for Riley to work.
— Ethan J. Skolnick (@EthanJSkolnick) June 28, 2014
That is, if Haslem wouldn't do this without knowing Bosh and Wade's plans, and if he's privy to those via his agent, then this hints that Wade and Bosh could be staying in Miami.
However, nothing is certain here. It remains possible that Haslem just wanted to secure more long-term money and/or help the Heat with cap space in general, even without knowledge of the plans of specific teammates. Nothing is anything until it's something.