The Miami Heat finally has made their first move in free agency. According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, former Charlotte Bobcats power forward Josh McRoberts to a four-year contract for roughly $23 million.
The contract is for the team’s full mid-level exception, according to the ESPN report. McRoberts’ contract will carry a player option in year four of the contract.
McRoberts will be going into his eighth year in the league next season. The 6’10”, 240 pound forward averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game last season and averaged 9.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game the year before.
The signing puts extra pressure on Heat president Pat Riley. The team can still offer max contracts to LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade and keep Norris Cole and rookie Shabazz Napier on the roster.
The Heat would also still have a full bi-annual exception and plenty of room to fill the roster with veteran minimum players. However, by giving McRoberts the full mid-level exception, the Heat are now hard-capped at $81 million for the upcoming season.
At the same time, free agent Chris Bosh reportedly has a max contract offer on the table from the Houston Rockets. The max contract would pay him almost $100 million over the next four seasons and team him with All-Star center Dwight Howard and star guard James Harden.
UPDATE 4:00 p.m.: Just a few minutes after news of the McRoberts signing broke, Yahoo! Sports reported the Heat have also come to an agreement with forward Danny Granger to join the team next season. Granger is set to sign for two years at $4.2 million, the team's bi-annual exception.
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The signing of Granger leaves the team with an additional $2 million exception to sign an additional free agent to add to the current core group of Shabazz Napier, Norris Cole, Granger, and McRoberts.
