Shane Battier To Sign With Miami Heat
MIAMI (CBSMiami.com) – Free agent forward Shane Battier announced Thursday morning on Twitter that he will sign with the Miami Heat on Friday.
"The lockout gave me lots of time to consider what was important to me at this stage of my life and career," Battier wrote on Twitter. "Over the last week, I've played out every scenario in my head over and over. It always came back to one thing for me: a winning role."
The free agent forward will sign for the mini-mid-level exception, which will be three years for a total of $9 million, according to CBS4's Jorge Sedano.
Battier will join the Heat and provide the team with the ability to space the floor and take the shooting pressure off of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James.
The former Memphis Grizzly and Houston Rocket is downright deadly from the corner, which is something the Heat had hoped Mike Miller would be before his injuries piled up.
Battier averages just fewer than 10 points per game and pulls down 4.5 rebounds and dish out two assists per game.
The former Duke Blue Devil is also downright deadly from behind the three-point-arc, where he shoots just less than 40 percent.
Battier's defense is also second-to-none and will only make the team's already stellar defensive style that much tougher to beat.
Battier is also playoff tested, having started 34 playoff games and played in 51 overall.
The only thing that happens now is what will happen to Mike Miller and does this take the Heat completely out of the market to land a decent starting center.
