The Heat agreed to a three-year deal with second-round pick Mario Chalmers Wednesday. Two years are guaranteed and his starting salary will be around $700,000, more than $250,000 above the league minimum salary. The deal says a lot about how high the Heat front office is on the former Kansas point guard and NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. Remember, the Heat gave up two future second-round picks in the trade with Minnesota to get Chalmers, after he was drafted No. 34.
Chalmers has been impressive in Summer League, and clearly the Heat want to give him a shot to be a big part of its future. In his Summer League debut he outplayed No. 1 pick Derrick Rose (pictured left) in their head-to-head matchup and Tuesday also had a better performance. Chalmers will not be looked to as the savior at point guard, at least not right away (and Heat president Pat Riley has said as much). It's clear that the Heat brass feel like they got a great pickup and steal, as Chalmers had been projected in some mock drafts to be a lottery pick.
Although it's early, what are your impressions of Chalmers? Do you see him perhaps being the long-term answer at point guard?
Comments