LeBron James And More: Miami Heat Free Agent Success Celebrated

It's been a while since the Miami Heat landed a premium free agent -- a whale, as Pat Riley would say.

That's in part because the transaction game has changed, with most superstars extending their deals or demanding trades prior to their contract's expiration.

But no team in the past 25 years has made more huge splashes than Miami. That's according to CBSSports.com, which recently ranked the biggest free agent signings since the year 2000.

The Miami Heat appear on the list four times, all in the top 13. And that doesn't even include a couple of smaller moves (think Shane Battier in 2011) that contributed to major winning.

The first to appear on the list? Ray Allen, who, according to cbssports.com recently, made the second most impactful shot of the past 25 years while with the Heat.

13. Heat sign Ray Allen (2012)
Allen spent just two years in Miami, but hit one of the most iconic shots in NBA history in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals to extend that series against the Spurs, with the Heat winning in Game 7. His arrival in Miami wasn't just about putting a perfect shooting piece alongside their Big Three, but it also stuck a dagger in the hearts of their most hated rivals in Boston. Allen bolting for the Heat was the beginning of the end for that Celtics squad, and drove a wedge between that group that lasted more than a decade. Robby Kalland, CBSSports.com

Next on the list: someone the Heat tried to get at the prior trade deadline (in a possible swap with Minnesota) before waiting to pounce again during a contract dispute with Philadelphia. That was Jimmy Butler, who would later have a contract dispute with the Heat.

But not before leading the Heat to two surprising NBA Finals appearances.

9. Heat sign Jimmy Butler (2019)
After the Sixers made the curious choice of picking Tobias Harris (and Al Horford) over Jimmy Butler, the Heat swooped in an picked up their next star player capable of turning them into a contender again. The Heat made it to two NBA Finals and another conference finals with Playoff Jimmy leading the way, as he cemented his status as one of the game's best at elevating his play in big moments. While they never quite captured a title with Butler in Miami, he had an incredible tenure there until it ended the way most all of Butler's NBA stops have with a rather messy trade request. Kalland

But, of course, the two biggest moves helped form the Big Three, back in 2010. In both cases, the Heat had to trade two first round picks in a sign-and-trade, to give Chris Bosh and LeBron James six-year contracts with opt-outs. (The new collective bargaining agreements would have treated this much differently). The Big 3 went to four NBA Finals in four years, and won two championships.

So, course, they would do it again.

5. Heat sign Chris Bosh to round out Big Three (2010)
Landing LeBron James was the ultimate coup, but there's no Big Three in Miami without Chris Bosh, and there might not have been another star in the entire league better willing to embrace the role required of being Miami's third star. Bosh was the offensive engine in Toronto, a dominant scorer on the block and in the mid-post, and reinvented his game in a way few stars ever have. He had enough humility to know what the Heat needed him to do in terms of taking a backseat to LeBron and Dwyane Wade, but remained fully engaged and attacked his role as a defender and tertiary scorer with a passion. The greatest example of that came in the 2013 Finals when he grabbed the vital offensive rebound that turned into Ray Allen's iconic 3.Kalland

And, course, James is No. 1 -- not just for the Heat signing him in 2010, but also for the Cavaliers signing him away from the Heat in 2014 and the Lakers signing him away from the Cavaliers in 2018.

All three are pivotal moments not only in each franchise's history but league history as a whole, as there is no bigger signing than getting the best player in the world to come to your team. Kalland

Hard to argue with that.

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