Winderman: Haslem Stays With Heat, Spurning Mavs And Nuggets

Heat beat writer Ira Winderman, one of the best in the business, just posted this message regarding free-agent power forward Udonis Haslem to his Twitter account:

Just heard from Udonis Haslem. He has turned down far larger deals from the Nuggets and Mavericks . . . and will be back with the Heat!

 

The Mavs are one of two teams—Denver is the other—who offered Haslem the full mid-level exception, while New Jersey is also believed to have entered the bidding. But Haslem’s loyalty to the his hometown of Miami, for which he’s played his entire seven-year NBA career, was enough to trump more money from those teams.

Dallas will now have to look elsewhere to address depth at the power positions.

Mike Fisher: Haslem Viewed By Heat, Mavs As Special

Mike Fisher has some details on the Mavericks’ thinking in offering their entire midlevel exception to Udonis Haslem, as well as mention of how Haslem impacts the potential pursuit of Al Jefferson.

Dallas’ plan in offering the Miami free agent an MLE-level deal lays out thusly: He’s a three-position player in the front court, he plays with a toughness that is lacking in Dallas’ recent playoff ousters, he is a defensive stopper of power forwards, and his unselfishness will allow him to play off the bench when necessary.
Oh, and the Mavs want to give him more money than Miami can give him.
Why is this a difficult bidding war to win?
“Haslem,’’ says one NBA source, “is the kind of player who, once you have him, you never want to let him go.’’

Yahoo.com: Mavericks Offer To Haslem Is At Least 3 Years, $20 Million

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Mavericks offer will be at least six million more than the Miami Heat’s.

The Mavs have offered a contract believed to be a minimum of three years and $20 million, league sources told Yahoo! Sports. The Mavericks have offered Haslem their full mid-level exception starting at $5.85 million this season, a league source said.

The Heat are trying to re-sign Haslem to play with Dwyane Wade(notes), LeBron James(notes) and Chris Bosh(notes), but salary cap restraints could leave them with as little as $4.3 million a year to pay him.

Mavericks Offering Udonis Haslem Full MLE

Jeff Caplan of ESPN DFW reports that the Dallas Mavericks have made Udonis Haslem the primary target of their midlevel exception, which allows them to sign a free agent to a multi-year contract at a first year salary of the NBA average of $5.9 million. 

Caplan says that the Miami Heat can only offer Haslem around $4 million, but that could be enough. 

Although Dallas can clearly outbid Miami, Haslem's strong ties to the area - especially to his close friend Wade - hurt the Mavericks' chances of actually landing him. It's also possible that New Jersey could join the bidding for Haslem as well.

If Dallas could accomplish the unexpected and sign Haslem, their roster holes would effectively be filled, and they could focus on using their other assets on a more noticeable improvement in their backcourt.