Richardson extension worthy of Heat front-burner

Eric Spoelstra calls it “the microwave society,” the hunger to know right now what time eventually will reveal. For the Miami Heat coach, it remained a mantra through what started with the pain of 11-30 last season and ended with the comfort of the opposite record over the second half of the schedule.And now the start button again has been pressed for the Heat, this time with Josh Richardson’s eligibility for an extension, a window that opened Thursday, on the two-year anniversary of his rookie agreement. It is a worthy debate, whether two seasons from his selection at No. 40 out of Tennessee in 2015 Richardson is deserving of what could be a four-year, $42 million extension that would kick in starting in 2018-19.There also is absolutely no rush, unless there is concern about the futures market by either side. Why? Because the deadline for reaching such an extension is June 30. This is not the mid-October deadline the Heat face on Justise Winslow’s 2018-19 team option.Nor is it the opening-night deadline on the 2017-18 guarantees for Rodney McGruder and Okaro White. So, for the moment, consider this moment. Based on the current NBA climate, the Heat would be wise to push pen and paper in front of Richardson sooner rather than later. Consider that when Richardson’s extension would kick in for 2018-19 his new deal would start at $9.4 million. As a matter of perspective, Kelly Olynyk will earn $11.1 million that season, Dion Waiters $11.6 million, Goran Dragic $18.1 million and Tyler Johnson $19.2 million. Heck, Wayne Ellington’s qualifying offer for that season is $8.2 million. It basically is the cost of doing business these days, even if you’re not a guaranteed starter going forward.It also is an irony of the rookie scale.Because on the eve of this coming season, the Heat can lock in Winslow for $3.4 million for 2018-19. So the Heat’s 2015 second-round pick could wind up making nearly three times as much that season as the Heat’s 2015 first-round pick.Logic often must be suspended during such moments, because when it comes to the NBA salary scale, there is precious little. At salaries of $9.4 million, $10.1 million, $11.2 million and $12 million, Richardson could well turn into a bargain going forward.If he can avoid the multiple injuries that short-circuited his 2016-17.If he can develop a definitive Heat niche. If he can reemerge as two-way presence the elevated hope at the end of 2015-16. The thing is, just because the maximum allowable extension for Richardson is about $42 million over four seasons (based on where the next salary cap falls), it doesn’t mean the max has to be offered. Yet in today’s NBA economy, it also doesn’t appear as if anything less would suffice.The alternative is to allow Richardson to enter free agency next July, when, with his three seasons of service, he would stand as a restricted free agent. That would allow the Heat to match any outside offer, with this year’s market showing that the spending frenzy of the 2016 offseason was an anomaly created by a one-time exponential jump in salaries.Richardson’s status, with full Bird Rights, also would mean no repeat of Tyler Johnson’s back-loaded contract. Whatever the numbers would be in an outside offer sheet for Richardson, the annual salaries would be mandated to be relatively equal.So ultimately, ask this: Do the Heat know enough about Josh Richardson now to commit to eight-figure salaries through ‘21-22?Then remember than two of the Heat’s next four first-round draft choices are due to the Phoenix Suns to complete the 2015 acquisition of Dragic. So it’s not as if the draft pipeline can replenish (with the Heat also without a second-round selection until 2022).So what is the right call if we turn to that microwave that Spoelstra so detests, and require an immediate answer that can surely otherwise wait?If I’m the Heat: Get that signature before the first ball bounces during training camp.If I’m Richardson and his representation: Take the long view toward 2018 free-agency, with the maximum extension likely to remain an available fallback position at any point in the interim.