When we look back on what Pat Riley did in the Summer of ’08 years from now, we’ll likely remember how Riles had the ability to retain Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem and sign LeBron James and Chris Bosh. We’ll even remember how Riley convinced Mike Miller to take a little less money to play for a ring. Heck, we may even remember how he gave Joel Anthony a five-year extension and sign veteran big men like Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas and give them a chance at the championship ring that has eluded them throughout their respective careers.
The one move that’s most likely to be overlooked is the how in which he was able to retain James Jones. What Jones has been able to do this season was washout the disappointment that Miller has been (at least so far).
While it’s no secret that the Miami native’s first choice was to remain a member of the Heat, Riley waived him in order to free up the cap space that would enable him to sign Wade, James, and Bosh. Jones had a contract that would have paid him $4.65 million for this season but it contained a $1.86 million buyout which created about $3 million more in cap space for the Heat to spend by waiving him.
Riley signed Jones to a 5-year, $23 million contract back in July of 2008. This is where the genius and foresight of Riley comes in to play. Jones’ contract contained team options for each of the final three years. Not a bad deal considering Jones was coming off a pretty impressive season in Portland. He came off the bench for all but three games that year, averaging eight points per game and making 44 percent of of the 205 three-pointers he attempted — good enough for third in the league behind only Jason Kapono and Steve Nash.
Five-year deals for veterans, which contain three separate one-year team options (with buy-outs), are not exactly commonplace. Riley convinced Jones to accept a contract that would maintain the Heat’s ability to keep his long-term vision in place.
This was a win-win for Miami. If Jones played great, Riley would be able to retain him for a decent price. If he underperformed, then it wouldn’t cost the team much to dump him.
However, there was a third scenario but it came with a risk. Riley could buy Jones out to create more cap space for Wade, James, and Bosh, and then try to re-sign him for the veteran’s minimum. He ran the risk that by waiving Jones he would make him an unrestricted free agent who could have signed with any of the league’s 30 teams. But Jones was from Miami and had the chance to play for a championship.
So why would he leave?
That’s exaclty what Riley did. He waived Jones in June, gave him his buy-out, and then re-signed him in July for the veteran’s minimum — thus enabling the Heat to go over the salary cap and give Jones two paychecks — one for the buy-out amount ($1.86m) and one for the veteran’s minimum ($1.1m). That’s about $3 million for a guy who missed 88 games over the last two seasons due to injury.
Even if Jones hadn’t performed well this season there would have been very little risk involved for the Heat. But you could say that Jones has more than outperformed both expectations and salary. Looking at his averages, you might not be all that impressed. He did win the Three-Point Contest during All-Star Weekend but his season got off to a bad start — not unexpected considering he was coming off two injury-plagued seasons and was playing with an entirely new cast.
After making 36.5 percent of his three-pointers in November, Jones bounced back to record monthly three-point averages of 43 and 46 percent in December and January, respectively. In February, perhaps for the same reasons baseball sluggers seem to struggle after the Home Run Derby, Jones’ minutes dipped down to just under 11 per game and he only made about 30 percent of his three-pointers for the month.
But by the final month of the season, Jones’ minutes were back up to 25 per game and he made 60 percent of his shots from downtown in seven April games.
Heat fans (of which I am not) who watched this team play all season, will tell you that it isn’t about how many three-pointers Jones made as much as it is about the timing of those threes.
Sunday’s Game 1 victory over the Celtics was just the latest example of something Jones has been doing all season long. With the Heat up 22-16 in the second quarter, Jones hit back-to-back threes and a technical free throw to push the lead up to 29-16.
After the Celtics had cut the lead back down to eight, Jones hit another three to push the lead back to 11. Before the first half had ended Jones added another three-pointer and another technical free throw. By the time the game ended, Jones had set a franchise record for most points by a reserve in a playoff game with 25.
Jones turns 31 in October. He’s made a little over $20 million combined throughout his career. It’s clear that he’s happy playing in his hometown and competing for championships. But he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and if the league’s next collective bargaining agreement does away with the mid-level exemption, the Heat can only offer him the veteran’s minimum once again.
If that’s the case, then there’s always the chance that Jones leaves for an offer he can’t refuse. But even if he does, you have to credit Pat Riley’s strategy in how he managed to pull off one of the most creative transactions in league history.
Andrew Ungvari is a screenwriter and co-lead blogger for SirCharlesInCharge.com. Follow him on twitter.