Heat make Haslem signing official, complete $215M LeBron-less offseason
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The Miami Heat made what could be their final major move of the offseason on Friday, officially announcing that long-time center Udonis Haslem has re-upped with the team.
Here's team president Pat Riley on the signing, via a post on the team's Instagram page:
Udonis Haslem has been a fixture in Miami over the last 11 years. He's a team player, an encompassing all-purpose player, that would play just about any position or role in order to win. It's been such a privilege and honor to have him with the organization and I'm so happy that he decided to come bsck.
As outlined in the storyline below, Haslem opted out of a $4.6 million salary for 2014-15 to secure more long-term money and help the team maintain flexibility on the market, eventually signing a reported two-year, $5.5 million contract.
Haslem's deal becoming official caps quite the offseason for the Heat as they worked to retool after LeBron James left for Cleveland.
Of course, it all starts with Wade, the face of the franchise since 2003, who inked for two years and $31.1 million. He was sure to remind everyone via some new swag that the last time he checked, he was the man on the streets of South Beach:
Along with Wade and Haslem, long-time staples, the team brought back Chris Bosh (five years, $118 million), Chris Andersen (two years, $10 million), and Mario Chalmers (two years, $8.3 million). From outside the organization, they brought in Luol Deng (two years, $20 million), Josh McRoberts (four years, $23 million), and Danny Granger (two years, $4.2 million). Finally, the team plans to sign 2013 second-round pick James Ennis to a deal and also drafted Shabazz Napier in the first round.
Add it all up and it's more than $215 million, pushing the Heat above the salary cap once all of the deals are official.
Losing LeBron James hurts, but the Heat clearly aren't willing to lie down or rebuild.