MIAMI _ The initial question was why Tyler Herro at No. 13 in Thursday night's NBA draft when the Miami Heat could have just held on to Wayne Ellington as their 3-point specialist.
The long answer was about youth, building for the future, and the promise of a more diversified game.
The short answer, though, was a familiar one, the two words that have become synonymous with recent Heat seasons:
Luxury tax.
It is an aspect that Heat President Pat Riley has publicly urged be left to his number crunchers, rather than the takeoff point for analysis of his team.
With Ellington, an element of last season's trade was to find a landing spot for the veteran guard to regain playing time, rebuild his value in advance of this summer's free agency. And, yes, lowering the Heat luxury tax.
With Rodney McGruder, the late-season release was a matter of recognizing that the $3 million qualifying offer for next season was unlikely to be extended. And, yes, it also was about escaping the luxury tax.
Ultimately for the Heat through last season's machinations ... no luxury tax, no being on the clock for the onerous repeater tax and a fresh start going forward.
If only.
Because with the selection of Herro and that $3.6 million slot on the rookie salary scale, the Heat are solidly again ... in the luxury tax.
On one hand, that matters a lot, adding certain procedural limitations and again putting the Heat one step closer to the repeater tax.
This, again, is where Riley advises analysts to turn elsewhere with their basketball passion, that such calculations are not finalized until season's end, that his staff _ led by the calculator of general manager Andy Elisburg _ has consistently shown an ability to make such liabilities disappear.
But that doesn't mean there also won't be pain, as there was first with February's trade of Tyler Johnson and Ellington and then the stunning closing-week release of McGruder.
And that is where this becomes an issue, because it likely means again going with less than the maximum 15-player regular-season roster, as well as bypassing utilization of a mid-level exception.
When the Heat's payroll rolls over to 2019-20 salaries, the team will be at about $139 million in payroll, putting it $8 million above the projected 2019-20 luxury tax.
So how do you make $8 million disappear?
You call Elisburg.
So how did you wind up in such a predicament in the first place?
It started with Hassan Whiteside opting into his $27.1 million on Friday, a week after Goran Dragic opted into his $19.2 million.
It will continue in July, when the Heat will waive Ryan Anderson before his full $21.3 million 2019-20 salary kicks in, instead cashing out for the $15.6 million guaranteed portion, which still will leave Anderson with the second largest salary on the roster, even in his absence.
From there, there are the eight-figure salaries of James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson and Justise Winslow.
Eventually it all adds up.
Until it goes away.
The most likely avenue would be trading one or more of the team's high salaries for salaries not quite so high, perhaps a cost-saving move with Whiteside, perhaps a move later in the season with Dragic's salary for a less-costly short-term replacement.
It certainly is doable.
But at the moment, there is little room for Heat luxury when it comes to the tax.
Even as, all the while, Riley implores the focus remain on the games, the development of the young players, and the anticipated revival.
