House re-joins the Heat after a 7-year pause, in which he played for 8 teams

Eddie House is now officially the latest addition to the Miami Heat rotation, and a very good one at that that.

The three-point specialist has agreed on a two-year contract at the veteran minimum of $1,352,181 and $1,399,507, respectively, with the second season a player option.

The story for Eddie is a now a common one on this Heat roster. He passed on more lucrative deals elsewhere. The Bulls were thought to have been the front-runners for House, with the Celtics also in play to bring him back. Instead, he has chosen to re-join the team that originally drafted him out of Arizona State with the 37th overall pick ten years ago.

House will serve as a high-energy spark and three-point shooting specialist off the bench. Surrounding two superior defense-collapsing playmakers of the caliber of a Wade and James with a gaggle of superior three-point shooting specialists is . The Heat now has three legitimate threats – Eddie House, Mike Miller and James Jones.

House does one thing exceedingly well – shoot. He can shoot set shots, shots off the dribble or falling away, and free throws at an exceptional rate. His jump shot is all there, particularly in all-important clutch situations, and his lightning quick release (as well as the height he jumps to shoot it) means that he can always get it away. Read more…

The Miami Heat signed a third member of its summer-league team when it announced the addition of guard Kenny Hasbrouck on Wednesday.

Hasbrouck, a former Siena standout, joins Shavlik Randolph and second-round draft pick Dexter Pittman as summer-league players to ink contracts. Hasbrouck was the Heat’s top guard in the Las Vegas summer league earlier this month, averaging 13.6 points, 2.4 assists and 2.4 rebounds in five games, while shooting 49% from the field and an impressive 45% from the three-point line.

It marks the second stint with the Heat for Hasbrouck, who was given two 10-day contracts last season before being signed on for the remainder of the season with a team option for a second. The option was subsequently declined.

Hasbrouck’s contract is for two years at the minimum salary. The first year is $250,000 guaranteed, becoming $500,000 guaranteed if not waived on or before opening night, becoming fully guaranteed if not waived on or before December 15, 2010. The second year is fully unguaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if not waived on or before July 25, 2011.

The partial guarantee can be seen as a form of charity for a man who seemingly did not require it. Much like with Shavlik Randolph, this may be the case of an overzealous general manager in Pat Riley elated by his free agent coup and showing it by tossing around his owner’s money to fringe players with reckless abandon, even if the totals are relatively small.

Hasbrouck becomes the 15th player under contract for 2010-11. He faces difficult odds of making the 15-man opening-night roster, however, as more signings are undoubtedly yet to come. Teams are allowed to carry as many as 20 players during the offseason.

Pat Riley apparently felt the need to throw away some of owner Micky Arison’s money away in celebration of landing the Big Three.

The Heat on Tuesday signed free agent forward Shavlik Randolph to a two-year minimum salary deal.

Randolph, who had two brief stints with the Heat this past season, becomes the 14th player under contract for 2010-11, but unlike the previous 13 players signed, did not receive a fully guaranteed contract. The first season is only $250,000 guaranteed, becoming $500,000 guaranteed on opening night. The second year is fully unguaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if not waived on or before June 30, 2011.

Randolph is the fourth power forward under contract, joining Toronto Raptors free agent Chris Bosh, Portland Trail Blazers free agent Juwan Howard and returning Heat free agent Udonis Haslem.

Randolph has no realistic shot at making the regular season roster. The Heat has therefore, in effect, thrown away $250,000. Or, if you’d prefer to look at it differently, they’ve paid Randolph $250,000 to participate in training camp.

Randolph has appeared in 95 career games over five seasons, making seven starts, averaging 2.4 points, 2.4 rebounds in 8.3 minutes while shooting .447 from the field.

The Duke product was previously signed September 28, 2009 by the Heat, appearing in two games before he was waived on December 14. He was then signed by Portland on December 30, appearing in three games for the Trail Blazers. He re-signed with the Heat on April 6, 2010 for the balance of last season, appearing once, in the regular-season finale against the New Jersey Nets. He appeared in six games for the Heat and Blazers overall this past season, averaging 2.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 8.8 minutes.

It took 14 years, 7 teams, 4 trades, 3 free agent signings, 2 repeat pit stops, 1 buyout and 1 outright release, but he has finally found his way back to Miami. Roster spot number twelve belongs to Juwan Howard.

The union brings full circle the most agonizing and controversial contract situation in the history of Miami’s basketball franchise. Howard officially joined the Heat on Tuesday, signing a one-year minimum salary contract that will pay him $1,352,181. David Stern won’t raise any red flags this time around.

Fourteen years ago, when the Heat signed and subsequently lost Howard due to alleged salary cap violations, an incensed Pat Riley declared:

The day that Juwan Howard signed a contract with the Washington Bullets is the day I hit a new low in my 30 years in the NBA. I knew that once he signed that contract, we would probably never get him back, even if we took it to the Supreme Court and won it, because he wanted to stay in Washington. It’s very disconcerting to invest $100 million in a player, to go that far, know that you’re going to fight to keep him, and they just run to another deal.

Apparently, all is forgiven. Today, a more even-tempered Riley commented:

We feel that Juwan’s ability to play both the four and five spot will be complementary to what we have put together. He also gives us incredible professionalism and is a perfect fit behind Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem.

The signing is nonetheless a head-scratcher. This time around, Howard is no longer the talent he was once thought to be. At 37, his athleticism is in a rapid state of decline. He is old and slow. He can’t rebound. He can’t defend. If he doesn’t knock down his line-drive jump shot, he serves no real purpose on the court. And barring an injury to Chris Bosh or Udonis Haslem, he’s not likely to see any time on it.

Read more…

After an impressive summer league showing in which many felt he outplayed teammate Dexter Pittman, Garret Siler thinks he has a chance to make the Miami Heat roster. Siler is receiving interest from Pat Riley for the team’s training camp in late September.

The 7’0″, 275-pound behemoth of a man made the most of his limited time on the summer league floor. In nine games with the Nets and Heat, Siler saw just 12.6 minutes of action per game. But he shot 17 for 22 (77%) from the field, averaging five points and three rebounds per contest. He also did a good job clogging the lane and staying alert defensively, compiling six total blocks, though he was foul prone.

Miami really wants me. Summer League went pretty good. With the time provided, I did my thing.

Siler is a 23-year-old from Winton Salem, North Carolina that registered for the 2009 NBA Draft but went undrafted. Back then, he was a relative unknown from Augusta State University, a Division II school. At the time, Siler was nothing more than a massive 303-pound body with limited athleticism and mobility.

He was eventually picked up by the Minnesota Timberwoves where he raised eyebrows during summer league play, averaging eight points and six rebounds in five contests. He went on to accept an invitation to join the Atlanta Hawks organization on a non-guaranteed contract, where he advanced through until training camp only to be the last player cut.

Siler went on to join the Utah Flash of the D-League. However, the Hawks and Heat both told him that he’d have a better shot at making the NBA if he played a full year in China. After only two games with the Flash, he accepted an offer in December to play overseas for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association, and new owner Yao Ming. Read more…

The Miami Heat’s bid for Matt Barnes is not yet officially dead.

Despite what Matt Barnes reported on his own Twitter account last night, he will not be heading to Toronto. Somewhere along the way, Barnes, his agent, the Raptors and the Magic are making a horrible miscalculation.

Multiple media outlets are reporting that Barnes has agreed to a two-year deal to join the Raptors that will pay him nearly $10 million, the second year being a player option.

However, in my humble opinion, the Raptors don’t have the means to offer such a contract.

What appears to be happening here is that Barnes, his agent, the Raptors and the Magic are confusing the basics of the salary cap rules. It’s actually quite embarrassing.

The Raptors are currently over the salary cap. The fact that they received a $14.5 million trade exception in the Chris Bosh sign-and-trade should make that obvious to everyone.

Therefore, the only means for the Raptors to offer Barnes, a free agent who last played for the Magic, a contract would be via their mid-level or bi-annual exceptions or via the minimum player salary exception.

The Raptors utilized all but $770,000 of their mid-level exception to sign Linas Kleiza to a four-year, $18.8 million contract. Neither the remainder nor the full value of the bi-annual or minimum salary exceptions could possibly produce a contract that pays out $10 million over two years. Read more…

Well, there goes one backcourt option, and perhaps the most versatile option at that. Keyon Dooling has agreed to join the Milwaukee Bucks.

Dooling signed a two-year, $4.3 million deal and will serve as a backup to Brandon Jennings at the point after former Buck Luke Ridnour agreed to a contract with the Wolves.

Apparently, Dooling was forced into accepting the offer after Pat Riley displayed only limited interest in the 30-year old combo guard from Fort Lauderdale known primarily for his strong perimeter defense.

Of course I wanted to play at home. The opportunity to win a championship was down there. Just being from South Florida, it was logical for me. My agent spoke with the Heat a couple of times, but we never got an offer. We never got past the courting stage or anything like that.

Pat has done a great job of putting together a dream team, so I’m quite sure they had a lot of people knocking their doors down. I could ill-afford to pass up good opportunities waiting for them to potentially call me, and then they might not call me.

Jason Williams, the former University of Florida product, now figures to be the leading veteran option for the Heat. Ex-Gator Mike Miller is certainly a fan of the possibility.

I actually talked to him yesterday. I’d love to have him. Obviously, it has to work out on both sides. J-Will would have to want to come back. And Miami would have to be with that.

After the expected additions of Carlos Arroyo and Juwan Howard to come shortly, the Heat will have committed to 13 of its 15 available roster spots. The rotation will break down as follows:

PG: Mario Chalmers, Carlos Arroyo
SG: Dwyane Wade
SF: Lebron James, Mike Miller, James Jones
PF: Chris Bosh, Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard
C: Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Joel Anthony, Jamaal Magloire, Dexter Pittman

As things stand, the Heat has just one point guard and one shooting guard on the roster; the unspectacular Mario Chalmers and the insatiable Dwyane Wade. Behind Chalmers, Arroyo will help. Behind Wade, there’s nothing.

The two remaining spots therefore figure to be utilized to round out the backcourt. It seems likely that one, and only one, of the two remaining spots will be allocated to a developmental project, who could play meaningful minutes in the coming season only if he were to demonstrate the required ability and maturity.

So how is Pat Riley going to decide which such player will earn the spot?

Guards Kenny Hasbrouck and Patrick Beverley each turned some heads with their play during the Heat’s five summer league games in Las Vegas. Read more…

Perhaps we should be the ones to cover up when Jamaal shoots, but he's valuable nonetheless

Jamaal Magloire will be returning to South Florida for a third straight campaign with the Miami Heat. Magloire signed off on his third straight one-year minimum-scale salary, this time paying him $1,352,181.

The former all-star is a shell of his old self, but he’s a welcome addition to the Heat frontcourt. Magloire brings to Miami an added dimension not captured by Zydrunas Ilgauskas or Joel Anthony at the center position. Ilgauskas is more of a finesse offensive weapon while Anthony is more of a tenacious shot-blocking defender. Jamaal provides the necessary third dimension; the I’ll-knock-you-back-down-so-don’t-dare-get-back-up toughness. He is a 6’11″ wide-body who uses his brute force to attack the glass and snatch down rebounds. His size also contributes to his role as a defender, especially since he picks up fouls like a magnet picks up scrap iron.

Jamaal is a good friend of Dwyane, and a personal favorite of mine, as a result of his tough and selfless play. Magloire never complains about his role, which figures to be severely limited once again. Instead, he has been a respected member of the organization and a strong locker room presence. In his two seasons with the Heat, Magloire has averaged 2.6 points (on 50% shooting) and 3.8 rebounds per game in just over 11 minutes of play. He’s also been a pure entertainment to watch at the free throw line. Read more…

Jones' shooting stroke could be valuable for the Heat this season

James Jones has agreed to re-sign with the Heat for the player minimum after being waived just three weeks ago.

Jones was not worth the 3-years and $14.9 million remaining on his previous contract, which would have paid him $4.7 million in the upcoming season, particularly to a team in such desperate need of the added cap space. And so, the Heat elected to waive him in favor of his reduced $5.952 million partial guarantee.

However, Pat Riley did one better. The team was able to recover an extra $1.0 million through an agreed-to buyout, which will count $1.544 million against the cap next season. In effect, the Heat recovered $3.1 million in additional cap space this off-season after cutting Jones.

Jones, then no longer affiliated with the Heat, had no reason to offer a $1.0 million reduced buyout. I speculated at the time that in return for doing so, he and Riley may have had an agreement in place in which Riley would offer a minimum salary contract after the team’s cap space was all used up.

This is exactly how events ultimately transpired. While Jones was not worth the added $3.1 million against the salary cap, he is most certainly worth a minimum salary contract at no cost to the team other than a roster spot utilized. Jones figures to be a valuable addition to a team in desperate need of long-range shooting and only Mike Miller thus far able to provide it.

Jones has received something of a bad rap in South Florida because he signed a lucrative contract which he never lived up to. But if he does for the Heat this season precisely what he did last season, shoot 41.1% from the three-point line and otherwise remain largely anonymous, he will have lived up to his more modest deal. Read more…