SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ The Miami Heat formally moved ahead with Part A of their NBA trading deadline machinations Thursday, with Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Justise Winslow shipped to the Memphis Grizzlies for veteran forward Andre Iguodala.
Johnson was then rerouted in a trade to the Minnesota Timberwolves for forward Gorgui Dieng.
Part B, however, never materialized, the Heat coming up short in a bid to acquire forward Danilo Gallinari from the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In addition to Iguodala, the Heat also acquired the expiring contracts of forwards Jae Crowder and Solomon Hill from the Grizzlies as part of the cap balancing needed to close that portion of the Heat's maneuvering.
Hill is earning $12.8 million this season, Crowder $7.8 million, each scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Both Crowder and Hill were held out of the Grizzlies' Wednesday night game, as was the case with Waiters and Johnson with the Heat.
The Heat's deal with the Grizzlies was as much about future flexibility as living in the moment.
With the 2020-21 salaries of Waiters and Johnson offloaded, the Heat have generated nearly $28 million in cap space for the coming offseason, but perhaps more importantly, with the wherewithal to move forward in the summer with new contracts for impending free agents Goran Dragic, Derrick Jones Jr. and Meyers Leonard.
In addition, limited to a two-team trade with the Grizzlies, the Heat opened enough space below their hard cap to add a player by the March 1 buyout deadline for playoff eligibility, with recently traded wing Evan Turner among those possibilities.
