Today is finally the beginning of the NBA's free-agency period, and with the Heat's first game a little more than two weeks away, the team will have to work fast and furious to nail the roster down. We've already gotten news that Shane Battier and Eddy Curry will be new guys on the block, but now reports are coming in that James Jones and Mario Chalmers will both return.
The details of Jones's arrangement haven't been finalized, but he has agreed to a three-year deal with the Heat. However, his agent tells the Sun-Sentinel the deal is worth "considerably less than half of what Jones had been offered elsewhere." The University of Miami graduate will make about $1.4 million a year.
"I've always tried to put myself in position to win and be a piece that can have an impact in winning," James told the Sun-Sentinel.
Even fewer details of the deal reached with Mario Chalmers have been released, but ESPN reports he has re-signed and will be at training camp today. He is reportedly taking a discounted salary to stay in the 305.
Meanwhile, the fates of two of the most important parts of the team that aren't named Bosh, James, or Wade are still sort of up in the air. There have been rumors that Mike Miller would be traded away under an amnesty clause, but Miller says he's feeling "pretty secure" he'll stay with the team. It's looking more and more like Miller's confidence could be well placed. Udonis Haslem has also been mentioned as another trade pawn, but at the moment he's still under contract with the team.
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