In a move almost as surprising as LeBron James' decision to return to Cleveland, former teammate Chris Bosh has reportedly opted to remain with the Miami Heat.According to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, "Chris Bosh has reached agreement on a five-year, $118 million contract to re-sign with the Miami Heat, league sources told Yahoo Sports."Wojnarowski notes that, "After LeBron James announced he was leaving the Heat to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bosh strongly considered a four-year, $88 million offer to sign with the Houston Rockets."He adds, "The Heat are pushing to keep Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem on shorter deals, sources told Yahoo Sports. Bosh, Wade and Haslem all opted out of their contracts to give the Heat cap flexibility to improve their roster after James became a free agent."In other words, Heat president Pat Riley isn't keen on the idea of contemplating a protracted rebuild just yet. Instead, he's gunning to keep the remainder of his championship group intact—no doubt hoping that more modest retooling will obviate the need for robust rebuilding.
As Riley put it in a statement responding to James' decision, "[Owner] Micky [Arison], [head coach] Erik [Spoelstra] and I remain committed to doing whatever it takes to win and compete for championships for many years to come. We’ve proven that we can do it and we’ll do it again."The obvious question is whether his plan—such as it is so far—has a chance.
Bosh is certainly a start. Though the 30-year-old adopted a reduced role while playing alongside James and Wade, there's little doubt he can—and will—become more of a focal point in the post-LeBron world. Last season, Bosh averaged just 16.2 points and 6.6 rebounds. In contrast, he put up 24 points and 10.8 rebounds during his last campaign with the Toronto Raptors in 2010.
Of course, that was four years ago, so there's no telling whether a return to form will be automatic. But Miami certainly has reason to be hopeful, especially given Bosh's evolution into a dangerous three-point shooter.The Georgia Tech product has developed a consistent perimeter shot, cashing in on 33.9 percent of his three-point attempts last season. That figure improved during the postseason, when Bosh made 40.5 percent of his 3.7 three-point attempts per game.That kind of versatility could yield major dividends with the inevitable increase in touches Bosh is likely to see in the wake of LeBron's departure.
Should Wade follow Bosh's lead, the Heat will at least have two stars either still in or close to their primes. Like Bosh, Wade has spent the last four seasons deferring. He's likely to see an uptick in usage as well, though it's certainly unlikely he'll once again emerge as a dominant scorer.But even with Bosh and—potentially—Wade back in the fold, Riley has some work to do.The good news is that he'll have some cap flexibility with which to do it.Miami won't inherit a superstar this summer (unless Carmelo Anthony unbelievably jumps into the equation), but it could certainly land a serviceable second-tier free agent like the in-demand Luol Deng or Trevor Ariza. It goes without saying neither would fully replace James, but either could keep Miami competitive in a soft Eastern Conference.The organization also now has an opportunity to upgrade its point guard position at some point down the road.What happens imminently is anyone's guess, but NBCSports.com's Kurt Helin outlines his short-term forecast for Miami.
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