The Miami Heat have been in the news a lot during this offseason, whether it be for trade speculation or signing Gerald Green and Amar'e Stoudemire to help fortify the bench. One guy that has been involved in some of that trade speculation has been Mario Chalmers. The Heat have reportedly been shopping Chalmers for a little while, and now it is being reported that Chalmers would like to stay in Miami if he had his choice, according to KU Sports.
Chalmers talked to media while visiting his alma mater Kansas University on Monday and said although he knows it's a business he would prefer to stay in Miami as he sees the team's potential.
"I would definitely love to stay in Miami. I think we have a good chance this year to go all the way. It's just bringing everything together," said Chalmers.
The reports have been that the Heat are aggressively shopping Chalmers and are willing to take a second round pick or less just so they can get him off their books, according to the Miami Herald. Chalmers is scheduled to make $4.3 million next season, and the Heat do not want to pay a backup point guard that kind of money as they just gave Goran Dragic a huge contract to be their starter.
Up until now Chalmers has yet to receive a lot of interest on the market or else the Heat would have already traded him. Chalmers has been a winner everywhere he has played in his career whether it be college or pro having won a National Championship at Kansas in 2008 and two NBA Championships as the starting point guard of the Heat.
The lack of interest in Chalmers is actually very surprising especially when you take the asking price into account. For a guy with Chalmers' championship pedigree you would think teams would be chomping at the bit to add him for just a second round pick. Yes, Chalmers is coming off a year in which his shooting percentages were down, but he has proven throughout his career that he can be a very solid point guard that hits big shots.
For his career, Chalmers averages 8.9 points per game in 27.8 minutes while shooting 42 percent from the field and 36 percent from three. Chalmers hit the big shot for Kansas to lead it to a championship in 2008 and has hit some big shots for the Heat in the playoffs. Some team is going to be getting a steal when they trade a second round pick or less for Chalmers, it's just a matter of which team it will be.
