Shane Battier and Eddy Curry make their way into Miami Heat – NBA News Update
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh took the Miami Heat inches close to the promise land last season, however in the NBA Finals, the ultimate cutting was missing and it exposed Miami badly.
Ever since that debacle; Miami front office had made it known that they will look to upgrade their bench next season. On Thursday, they took the first step in that direction, well technically two.
The Heat have roped in Shane Battier, the Memphis Grizzlies free agent, for a three year contract worth 9 million dollars. At the same time, they have rejuvenated the career of seven foot centre, Eddy Curry, the number 4th
pick of the 2001 NBA draft.
Both the new entrants in the South Beach franchise have entirely different reasons to be satisfied. For Battier, an eleven year NBA vet, winning a championship at this stage of his career is the ultimate motivation and for that
he has agreed to a contract significantly lower than many other free agents. Talking about the deal on his twitter account, the small forward said;
"The lockout gave me lots of time to consider what was important to me at this stage of my life and career.”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 other scenarios that Battier mentioned in the tweet were the San Antonio Spurs and Heat’s South Florida rivals Orlando Magic.
The acquisition of Battier adds great depth to Miami’s bench, a section of their setup that needs to improve quickly. He may not be the most athletic player, but Battier is certainly the most probing and hustling perimeter defender
around and the ability to knock down three’s when given a look is what makes his inclusion all the more valuable for Heat.
The case of Curry is more curious in nature.
About five years back, Curry was one of the better offensive centres in the league. However, in the ensuing year, his weight issues complemented by a sexual harassment incident and an apparent lack of interest ensured that he was
quickly forgotten. The fact that in the last three seasons combined, he has played only seven NBA games, gives some account of his troubles.
However, the Heat have provided him a chance to redeem himself. In return, they will get their hands on a seven footer, who can provide some much needed cushion on the offence, a thing which Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Joel Anthony, Jamaal
Magloire and Erick Dampier combined could not achieve last season.
It will be safe to say that the two additions for Heat will certainly make an impact.
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