Miami Heat extend qualifying offer to Mario Chalmers
MIAMI— The Miami Heat entered the bookkeeping portion of their schedule Wednesday by extending a qualifying offer to guard Mario Chalmers, an impending free agent.
By extending the qualifying offer of just over $1 million for the 2011-12 season, Chalmers becomes a restricted free agent, allowing the Heat to match outside offers, regardless of the salary-cap implications.
What happens next remains unclear. With the current collective-bargaining agreement to expire June 30, it is unclear if restricted free agency will remain part of a new agreement. As it is, while Chalmers becomes a free agent on July 1, no free-agent signings will be allowed until a new CBA is reached. In the void of an agreement, the NBA is expected to impose a lockout on July 1.
While Chalmers has spent three uneven seasons with the Heat after he was added out of Kansas in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft, he is coming off a strong performance in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, regaining his starting position for Sunday's series finale.
Mike Bibby, the other point guard who finished the season on the Heat roster, also will become a free agent July 1. Chalmers is the lone restricted free agent on the Heat roster.
Three other bookkeeping matters remain unresolved for the Heat, the player options forward James Jones, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas and guard Eddie House hold for next season. Those decisions must be made by June 30. Jones is expected to opt-in, with Ilgauskas likely to retire. House also could return.
Chalmers ranks eighth on the Heat's all-time list in steals, ninth in 3-pointers made, 12th in assists, 19th in minutes, tied for 19th in games and 22nd in 3-point percentage. He set a franchise record for a reserve with his 13 assists April 13 in Toronto and holds the franchise record with nine steals against the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 5, 2008. In 2008-09 he became the first Heat rookie to start all 82 games, earning an NBA All-Rookie second-team nomination.