Miami Heat Roster News: Chalmers Traded to Grizzlies, Green Suspended Two Games
The Miami Heat parted ways with point guard Mario Chalmers and seldom-used forward James Ennis, sending them to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Slovenian point guard Beno Udrih and forward Jarnell Stokes last Tuesday, in a move seen as practical for a Heat team that wants to cut its payroll to move under the luxury tax.
Chalmers, the most outstanding player of the 2008 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament is finally leaving Miami, the only team he has played so far in his NBA career. Getting rid of his $4.5 million salary means that Miami is closer to achieving a payroll that is below the $84.74 million luxury tax boundary, though they still have to dump some player contracts in the process.
It should be noted that Pat Riley still has a lot of thinking to do if he wants his team to finish the season below the tax line; that is if they want to avoid being a repeater tax team this year. Aside from Chalmers, center Chris Andersen was also rumored to be traded but nothing has come up so far.
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In a report from ESPN.com, the Heat initially asked Memphis to give them additional time to find a third team that is willing to absorb Udrih or Stokes, but the two teams eventually decided to consummate a direct trade without that third team.
For the Grizzlies, the move to obtain Chalmers is brought by the early season struggle for a team who has championship aspirations this year. The team lost to last season's runner-up Cleveland by 30 and was embarrassed by the defending champs Warriors in a 50-point blowout.
With Tuesday's deal, Miami will now be able to save around $6 million in taxes, which also puts them a little over $5 million above the 2015-16 tax line. With that in consideration, it won't be a surprise if Riley continues trading away players in the next couple of weeks.
Gerald Green Suspended
Meanwhile, newly acquired guard Gerald Green was suspended by the team for two games to what officials say is due to "conduct detrimental to the team." Adam Wells of Bleacher Report later revealed that before Green was hospitalized after collapsing in an area near his condo, he assaulted an unnamed individual who was trying to stop him from returning to his unit. The person in turn decided not to press charges.
Green is averaging 10.3 points for Miami while shooting a little over 41 percent from the three-point line.
