Chris “Birdman” Andersen Will Return to Miami
By Brad Rowland
In the (relative) stillness of a Tuesday night during the NBA free agency period, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski dropped yet another “woj bomb” via Twitter, and this time, it had to do with a member of the reigning NBA Champions.
While the announcement that “Birdman” will return to Miami isn’t a shock to anyone in league circles, Wojnarowski’s report is the first “official” announcement that the Heat’s big man will return. Andersen was instrumental on both ends of the court during Miami’s title run, posting a monster 24.9 PER over the team’s 20 playoff games and shooting a crazy 80.7% from the field in route to 15.2 points and 9.0 rebounds per 36 minutes.
Andersen will never be an elite player in the NBA, but Miami is in desperate need of defensive rim protection, and a guy with a 1.4 blocks per game average for his career can provide that. His offense is a pure bonus for the Heat and frankly, it is a blessing for the champs that he would sign there on a team with little-to-no cap flexibility going forward.
Things just keep getting better for the Miami Heat, if that’s even possible.