NBA Rumors: Chris Andersen to opt out, leave Heat for free agency
By Josh Hill
The Miami Heat weren’t able to pull off a historical run to a three-peat and now they will face an offseason in which their roster likely blows up and looks much different in 2014-15.
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What all basketball fans want to know is if LeBron James will opt-out of his contract with the Heat and test free agency, but there are other names on the team who have futures just as mysterious as LeBron. One guy who isn’t being mysterious despite physically looking so is Chris Andersen.
According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, Birdman is expected to spread his wings and fly away from Miami and opt out of his contract this summer. Becoming a free agent doesn’t mean that Andersen won’t come back to the Heat but it increases the chances that they use his money elsewhere to improve the roster.
Losing Birdman is a big blow to the Heat, although it can be argued that he wasn’t much help in the NBA Finals and is therefore expendable. But Andersen was a key part of more than a few heat postseason wins, including their title over the Spurs in 2013, so to cast him off to the side is a mistaken stance to take.
Still, he’s likely to get attention from other contenders who can use a solid rotational center like Birdman and he may make one last nice contract in his career. That may still come from Miami but before he re-commits to the Heat, Anderson is going to see what else is out there and if a greener pasture exists.