Chris Bosh Confirms He Is Staying In Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – Chris Bosh has confirmed he will be staying with the Miami Heat.
Bosh posted a comment on twitter on Saturday saying "Ready for the next challenge in my career. #HeatNation goes on!" Along with the tweet was a picture of him wearing Miami Heat gear.
There had been reports of Bosh re-signing with the Heat.
According to Yahoo! Sports on Friday, Bosh had finalized and agreement with the team and would return to Miami on a five-year, $118M deal.
Bosh had said that he had been waiting to see if LeBron James would stay in Miami or go back to Cleveland.
LeBron's Going Home To Cleveland
ESPN was reporting that the Rockets were expecting a commitment from Bosh.
During his four years with the Heat, Bosh has had to take a step back from being the first option as he was for his entire career with the Toronto Raptors.
Saturday, the terms LeBron James' new 2-year contract were revealed. He will make $42 million over the length of the contract with the Cavaliers and can opt out after just one season.
While Miami is working to get a Dwyane Wade deal finalized, it was unclear when Bosh would actually sign his contract. He's expected to be in Ghana until next week.
Wade released a statement on LeBron's departure Saturday:
"As a friend and a teammate, I am sad to see my brother LeBron leave to begin a new journey. In 2010, we decided to come together all for one goal – to win championships and we succeeded. We were friends when we first joined the league and created an unbreakable bond the past four years. Our collaboration will always be very special to me both personally and professionally. We shared something unique and he will always be part of my family. LeBron made the right decision for himself and his family because home is where your heart is. I know this was not an easy decision to make and I support him in returning to his roots. As an organization, a community, and as individuals, we achieved the goals we set when we first signed on together. We are champions."
Bosh is an All-Star who averaged 16.2 points on 52 percent shooting last season, and now figures to potentially get many more shots in the Heat offensive scheme. For his career, Bosh has averaged 19.2 points in 11 NBA seasons.
Next up for the Heat: More than likely, it's a deal with Dwyane Wade, who has spent all 11 of his NBA seasons in Miami. Wade and Miami were negotiating a new contract Friday, a move that was expected from the very moment that the 2006 NBA Finals MVP opted out of a deal that would have paid him about $42 million over the next two seasons.
One thing is for sure though, with LeBron James gone and so much money to spend, the Heat are certainly going to push hard to create a new championship contending team.
This much is certain: There's no shortage of openings on the Heat roster.
Miami has agreed to deals with Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger, which should get finalized once the Heat figure how to allocate their spending now that James is gone. Guard Norris Cole was the only holdover from last season with a guaranteed contract, while young center Justin Hamilton has a partially guaranteed deal and point guard Shabazz Napier came to the Heat on draft night.
Wade and Udonis Haslem, who also opted out with hopes it would help the team keep James, will almost certainly be back, and the team thinks highly of James Ennis, who played overseas last season. But that means a ton of slots in the locker room at AmericanAirlines Arena that is currently being renovated — a fitting metaphor if there ever was one — will be available between now and training camp.
LeBron's Decision Could Have Economic Impact
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