Miami Heat president Pat Riley is like that desperate mouse in the house trying to find that last piece of cheese before it's too late. Today, he acquired two-more players in hopes of luring LeBron James back to South-Beach.
The Heat reportedly have a verbal agreement with former Charlotte Bobcats forward Josh McRoberts on a four-year, $23 million contract, according to ESPN.com. McRoberts is a seven-year veteran who’s already played on five-different teams (POR, IND, LAL, ORL, CHA). He a nice versatile big-man that has averaged 5.7 PPG and 4.2 RPG in his career, according to BasketballReference.com. He is not a huge-scorer, but does pass the ball better than any other big in the game today, which greatly appeals to the vision of James.
Right off the bat, it seems to be a high annual salary (a little under $8 million per year) if the plans are to re-sign both Chris Bosh and LeBron James. Many reports today already have Bosh landing in Houston, so this could be a “damage control” signing by Riley.
The other addition Riley made today was the signing of Danny Granger to a two-year, $4.2 million deal. The former Indiana Pacer started to emerge as a supers-star during the 2008 season (averaging over 25 PPG), but since 2012 he’s endured critical injuries making it impossible to even get on the court. The signing is a low-risk, high-reward proposition.
With the rumors that James might be looking towards Cleveland now, Riley is now finally on his “last-stand.” Will these two signings be enough? Stay tuned.