Minutes ago, LeBron James shocked no one (thanks, Chris Broussard and your unnamed sources!) in announcing that he will sign with the Miami Heat next season. James will join fellow superstars Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, both of whom announced their free agent decisions yesterday, in South Beach.
Now, what does this have to do with Duke? Well, after going undrafted, Duke's own Jon Scheyer signed a deal with the Heat and will play for them in the NBA Summer League. And with the James decision, the Heat now only have five players on their roster for next season: James, Wade, Bosh, Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers. What's more, Miami will have little, if any, salary cap space to fill out the rest of their roster, given that James, Wade, and Bosh are all expected to get near-max deals.
So where will the Heat find the rest of their team? Second round picks Da'Sean Butler, Dexter Pittman and Jarvis Varnado will likely get their shot. But how about an undrafted rookie sharpshooter who just happens to be a proven winner? That's right, folks—not being drafted might just end up being the best thing possible for Jon Scheyer, who could not only conceivably make the team, but see legitimate playing time as a shooter off the bench.
So, fans of Scheyer may need to send a big thank you to LeBron in the coming weeks.
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