30-year old SF/SG James Jones has opted out of his deal with the Miami Heat for the 2011-12 season valued at $1.4 million bucks.  Jones thinks he can get more money in free agency and he’s probably right about that.  Jones played in 81 games (8 starts) for the Heat last year and he averaged 19.1 minutes, 5.9 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  He also shot a scorching 42.9% from three point range for the Heat last year.  Jones has now played in 157 games (15 starts) in his three years with the Heat and he averaged 17.1 minutes, 5.0 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game.  The Heat won’t miss Jones if Mike Miller can stay healthy in 2011-12….and that’s a huge if.

The Miami Heat dealt the 31st overall pick, a future second round pick and cash to Minnesota for point guard Norris Cole who was takenwith the 28th pick of the first round last night.  21-year old, 6’2″, 170 pound point guard Norris Cole could be on the fast track to P.T. with the Heat.  Cole played in  36 games for Cleveland State last year and he averaged 35.7 minutes, 21.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game.  Cole played in 140 games in his four years in college and he averaged 29.4 minutes, 14.1 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game.

36-year old center Zydrunas Ilgauskas has exercised his player option for the 2011-12 season to return to the Miami Heat.  Ilgauskas played in 72 games (51 starts) for the Heat last year and he averaged 15.9 minutes, 5.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game.  He has now played in 843 games (724 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 27.2 minutes, 13.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game.  Ilgauskas is obviously chasing a ring because he could have gotten more cash on the open market.  It will be interesting to see how much Big Z plays in 2011-12 as he was a forgotten man in the playoffs.

UPDATE:  (10/1/2011) – Zydrunas Ilgauskas has done an about face as he has decided to retire from the NBA.

The Miami Heat have the 31st pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday.  The Heat are desperate for a center or a point guard.  They have allegedly promised Reggie Jackson, a point guard out of Boston College that they will pick him if he’s still on the board at #31.  He reportedly has called off workouts with other teams to try to force his way to Miami.  The Heat will likely pick the best available point guard when they pick at #31.

The “Big Three” are likely going to have a lot of new faces playing basketball with them next year.  That’s because the Heat have 8 free agents and I see some of them leaving town.  Point guard Mario Chalmers is a restricted free agent and he might get an offer that the Heat won’t feel comfortable matching.  PF Juwan Howard, C Jamaal Magloire, PG Mike Bibby and C Erick Dampier are all likely as good as gone.  Howard is likely the only one of those four guys who might consider coming back to Miami.  SG Eddie House, SF James Jones and C Zydrunas Ilguaskas all have player options for next year.  It will be interesting to see what the decisions that will be made are concerning those four players.  James Jones might decide to test free agency this summer, especially seeing how the Heat didn’t let him play much in the NBA Finals.  I think Eddie House will likely come back and try to get a ring.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas will likely retire or sign with a different team this off-season.

40-year old Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra was abused by Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle in the NBA Finals.  Why did Spoelstra play Joel Anthony against a Mavericks team with two 7 footers?  Why play Mike Bibby over Mario Chalmers?  He didn’t adjust his gameplan for the NBA Finals as the Mavericks didn’t have the same makeup as the teams the Heat beat in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.  Spoelstra led the Heat to a 58-24 (70.7%) record during the regular season and they were 14-7 (66.7%) in the playoffs.  He now has a 148-98 (60.2%) record in his three years as the Heat’s head coach during the regular season and he is 18-15 (54.5%) during the playoffs.  Spoelstra will be on the hot seat from Day #1 in 2011-12, just like Stan Van Gundy was when he had “personal problems” before Pat Riley took over as the Heat’s head coach.

The Heat didn’t play any D as the Mavericks shot 50% from the floor and it killed them in the end.  LeBron James led the way for the Heat last night with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 1 blocked shot.  James shot 9 of 15 from the floor but he turned the ball over six times.  Chris Bosh stepped up as he had a solid game with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 1 steal.  Mario Chalmers (18 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals) and Dwyane Wade (17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocked shots also had solid games last night.  Udonis Haslem pitched in with 11 points and 9 rebounds in 34 minutes on the floor.  The Heat’s season ended with a thud on their own court as the Mavericks beat them 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.

28-year old center Joel Anthony was awful in the NBA Finals.  He played in 6 games (all starts) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 20.5 minutes, 1.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game.  He only shot 4 of 14 from the floor (28.6%) and he didn’t get to the free throw line even once!  He played in 21 games (13 starts) for the Heat in the playoffs and he averaged 27.4 minutes, 2.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game.  Starting Anthony turned into a fatal flaw for the Heat as they needed size to deal with Dirk Nowitzki and Tyson Chandler inside.

25-year old point guard Mario Chalmers did his part for the Heat  in the NBA Finals.  Chalmers played in 6 games (1 start) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 28.8 minutes, 11.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.  He shot 14 of 35 (40%) from three point range in the NBA Finals.  Chalmers played in 21 games (1 start) in the playoffs for the Heat and he averaged 24.3 minutes, 7.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

The Heat needed 27-year old power forward Chris Bosh to be the tough guy he was in Toronto, but it just never happened.  He played in 6 games (all starts) for the Heat in the NBA Finals and he averaged 39.3 minutes, 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game.  Bosh played in 21 games (all starts) in the playoffs and he averaged 39.7 minutes, 18.6 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.  I would not be shocked to see Bosh get traded before next season starts as he was pretty soft this year for the Heat.