July 1, 200521 yr Heat trio opts to be free BY ISRAEL GUTIERREZ igutierrez@herald.com Shaquille O'Neal is not a free agent today. Damon Jones and Keyon Dooling are. As expected, neither Jones nor Dooling triggered his contract option for next season by Thursday's midnight deadline, meaning both are unrestricted free agents as of today, when teams can begin negotiating with, but not yet sign, free agents. O'Neal, however, has an extended deadline to decide if he wants to opt out of his contract, which has one year left on it for $30 million. Because all the details of the new collective bargaining agreement have yet to be officially written, certain players had the option of extending a deadline if their current team agreed to it. O'Neal and the Heat have agreed to allow O'Neal until July 22 (or whenever the collective bargaining agreement is completed) to decide. That doesn't stop the Heat and O'Neal from negotiating a new deal, under the assumption that he still will opt out of his contract. Heat president Pat Riley said Wednesday that he plans to meet with O'Neal's representatives this weekend to hopefully come to terms on a new contract. Riley has said he would like to sign O'Neal to a four- or five-year contract. As for Jones, it has been expected since the end of the season that he would choose free agency to take advantage of the success he had with the Heat this past season and Milwaukee the season before. Jones' contract would have paid him $2.75 million for next season, but the 28-year-old point guard would prefer a multiyear deal. Dooling's decision was simple given that the point guard's contract for next season would have paid him the minimum allowed for a player entering his sixth year. The Heat's decision now becomes whether to pursue either or both of last year's point guards or seek other options in free agency. The most notable names in the Heat's price range, which includes all or part of the midlevel exception that is estimated to be $5.5 million, include Antonio Daniels, Earl Watson, Gary Payton, Damon Stoudamire, Brevin Knight and Jeff McInnis. Another of the Heat's top priorities is re-signing Udonis Haslem, who officially became a restricted free agent at midnight Thursday. Haslem is expected to be offered the full amount the Heat can extend, which is a five-year deal worth roughly $32 million. If Haslem agrees to such a deal, which can't officially be agreed on until July 22 at the earliest, then it would give the Heat the freedom to use its midlevel exception without concern. Other players the Heat could pursue are power forwards with extended range like Donyell Marshall and Robert Horry, or possibly a player released by his team under the one-time tax-relief exception like Michael Finley or Allan Houston, who are both expected to be waived.
July 1, 200521 yr I'm not worried about Shaq. I just hope we can retain Udonis Haslem and still have our MLE to probably pick up a solid point guard.
July 1, 200521 yr I'm not worried about Shaq. I just hope we can retain Udonis Haslem and still have our MLE to probably pick up a solid point guard. 835272[/snapback] Well considering you can match anything up to the MLE for Haslem you are in good shape. And then would still have the entire exception for anyone else, yall are in good shape. Unless one of Atlanta, Charlotte, Clippers and some other crappy team throw him a TON of cash. which they wont because they are stupid.
July 2, 200521 yr Shaq is my favorite player, but no way in hell is he worthy of five years. Give him four with an option for a fifth and even that is pushing it.
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