If LeBron James is going to take less money and advise Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to do the same, it will only be so the Miami Heat can surround him with more talent.
The New York Daily News’ Mitch Lawrence says the Heat’s “Big Three” are only interested in taking less money if it helps Pat Riley bring in more talent.
Via the NY Daily News:
As team insiders have maintained for months, James isn’t interested in reducing his salary from $20.6 next season and $22.1 million in 2015-16 just so that team owner Micky Arison can avoid paying luxury taxes. As they say, been there, done that and all it got James was second place.
Bosh, who makes identical money to James, and Wade, who makes slightly less, at around $41.5 million for the next two seasons, also don’t want to rework their deals solely to give Arison another tax break. They want the money put to good use, meaning adding talent so that Miami can return to the Finals for a fifth straight season.
That makes complete sense. They’re not there to do Arison favors; they are only taking less to help the team win.
As it stands, Arison is likely facing a large luxury tax bill next season. The Heat paid James, Bosh and Wade almost enough money this season to make up the salary cap for the 2013-2014 season. After filling out the rest of the roster paying guys the minimum or thereabouts, they were up to over $80 million in salary commitments, which surpasses the luxury tax threshold. As repeat offenders next season, the Heat will likely have to pay at least double the amount of money they’re over the luxury tax as a penalty. Because the penalty is calculated on a multiplying scale, owners often have to draw a line somewhere to avoid exorbitant luxury tax costs.
I completely agree with the Big Three’s stance on this issue. If they’re going to take big discounts to help the team win, Arison will have to spend to give them more help. It’s only fair that way.
