Amar’e Stoudemire to add depth, scoring to Miami Heat on one-year deal
The Miami Heat go after big names even when they’re looking for guys to fill out the roster. A week after agreeing to terms to bring back big-name free agents Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic, the Heat announced a one-year deal with veteran forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who last played for the Dallas Mavericks after accepting a midseason buyout from the New York Knicks. Stoudemire, who turns 33 in November, will make the veteran minimum of $1.5 million with Miami.
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From the press release:
“We are very fortunate that a proven All-Star like Amar’e has chosen the Miami Heat,” said HEAT President Pat Riley. “He is going to bring gravitas, leadership and a hardworking mentality to our team as we look to win another Championship in Miami.”
The move seems like a good one for both team and player. With Chris Bosh returning from season-ending blood clots in his lungs and Hassan Whiteside having burst onto the scene as a fantastic rim protector last season, Stoudemire will be asked to serve as a backup for both players with Bosh playing some center in smaller lineups. With Udonis Haslem still on the roster and rookie small forward Justise Winslow projected to be capable of guarding bigger players, Stoudemire can focus on providing an offensive spark without having his defensive weaknesses exposed too thoroughly.
That’s a good thing, because he’s probably not capable of doing much else at this point in his career. Stoudemire can still score — he averaged 11.5 points on 55.7 percent shooting in 21.1 minutes per game with superior efficiency once he joined the Mavericks. Unfortunately, several knee injuries and the aging process have robbed him of his historically impressive athleticism. Stoudemire can help, but it’s not as if he’s joining the Heat as a third veteran star (or even a starter) to play next to Wade and Bosh. Those days are well in the past.
Yet veterans in Stoudemire’s position could do far worse than joining up with two perennial All-Stars, a dynamic point guard, several promising young players, and one of the league’s best head coaches in Erik Spoelstra. The Heat do not look capable of challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers at the top of the East, but they look like one of several squads who could end up with one of the better records in the conference. That’s a pretty impressive place to be for a franchise that lost LeBron James just 12 months ago.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
