Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade To Join Forces In Miami; Both May Be Willing To Take Pay Cut

For the last few months, there's been this lingering feeling that Pat Riley will ultimately fire Erik Spolestra and return as Miami's head coach once they make a big splash in free agency. This has been shot down by pretty much everyone, but it's not completely baseless, considering Riley basically did that to Stan Van Gundy five years ago. 

Either way, though, it's now been shot down again. According to Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald, Chris Bosh was told definitively that Spolestra will be his coach next season.

Bosh to Herald on Heat coach status: "That made that clear. Dwyane made that clear. Pat made it clear. Erik's the guy."    

Of course, Stan Van Gundy was "the guy" in the summer of 2005, but that didn't stop Riley from replacing him in the middle of the season. Still, we can at least cool it on the Riley rumors for now.

Earlier today, I discussed how it could very well be financially impossible for LeBron James to team with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. However, if Wade follows through on his own comments on SportsCenter just now, one of the major pitfalls to this happening could be overcome. 

Via Chad Ford:

Wade says it's not about the $$$. He said he and CB4 willing to take less money to help Heat fill out the roster. 

I say "one" of the major pitfalls because more still needs to be done. Realistically, unless all three take serious paycuts, the only thing this will probably do is allow the Heat to fit in James and not anyone else. But now there's at least a remote possibility of a legitimate roster being constructed.

For example, say Wade, James and Bosh all take just $14 million each in their first season instead of the full maximum contract (which is about $2.7 million than a max contract would give them, a relatively serious amount). Combined, that's $42 million, with the cap set at around $56.1 million. Michael Beasley adds $5 million, bringing it to $47 million, and Mario Chalmers adds $1 million. The Heat also have to keep $2 million on their cap to account for James Jones' contract, so that puts them at $50 million, and if they keep their four second-round picks, that's another $2-$2.5 million. Still, that's enough to sign a couple players to contracts above the veterans' minimum, and they could create more room by dealing Beasley. 

That's a lot to ask of everyone, and it doesn't help that the Raptors aren't interested in Beasley, according to Ken Berger. But at least it's remotely possible.