Chris Bosh and his agent did a masterful job of manipulating the Miami Heat into offering a max contract two years ago, and their negotiating success could end up being one of the reasons Dwyane Wade leaves town.
Ironically, Wade and Bosh share the same agent. That agent, Henry Thomas, is currently trying to get the Heat to reward Wade’s loyalty by increasing their reported offer of two years and $40 million. When Bosh was a free agent two summers ago, Miami’s brass had hoped he would take less than the max like Wade so they could build out the rest of their roster more easily. Unlike Wade, Bosh wasn’t having it.
In a column he wrote for The Miami Herald, Dan Le Batard described how Bosh parlayed his $88 million offer from the Houston Rockets in 2014 into a max deal from the Heat. Le Batard’s sources likely come from the Heat side, but the information does not sound far-fetched.
According to three sources, the Heat was informed that Bosh was leaving for Houston for $88 million. Miami offered about $7 million more than that. Nope. Had to be the max — $118 million. Nothing less than the max would keep Bosh in Miami. The Heat wanted to pay Bosh and Wade equally — $18 million a year — and protect future flexibility. Nope. Bosh gets the max or he’s gone. And that’s how Thomas got one client his money in Miami while the other one, the older one, now fights for more dollars from a team that has already offered him all of its remaining cap space. Wade doesn’t blame James or Bosh or his agent publicly, but he sure as hell seems to blame the Heat.
Remember when Bosh made these comments a few months after he re-signed with the Heat? It sure didn’t sound like he was ever serious about leaving for Houston.
If that is the way things went down, it’s one more reason for Wade to be finished with taking hometown discounts — especially with the same agent negotiating on his behalf. The Heat can no longer sell D-Wade on the idea of chasing Kevin Durant, and who knows if Bosh will even play again given his recent health scares. If you think Wade is bluffing, the latest reports will probably change your mind. He may actually walk if Miami doesn’t sweeten the pot.
