For the Miami Heat, it is the end of an era.
According to Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski, the Heat will send point guard Mario Chalmers and small forward James Ennis to the Memphis Grizzlies for point guard Beno Udrih, power forward/center Jarnell Stokes, and a 2nd round pick. The move is seen as a way for Miami to lower their tax bill, as the Heat save $7.9 million against the tax.
Now ESPN’s Mark Stein reports that the Heat are looking for a third team, likely to absorb Udrih, if not both players, as a further way to assure tax savings; the inclusion of that second round pick is likely a sweetener for a third team to take on the players coming from Memphis.
A 2008 second round draft pick, and one of the most polarizing players in Heat history, Chalmers would finish his time in Miami with averages of 8.8 points, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals. A key player during the Heat’s 2012 and 2013 championships, his career highlight would probably be the 2012 NBA Finals that saw him average 10.4 points in five games, including a 25 point outburst in Game 4 that helped the Heat overcome LeBron James coming down with cramps to outlast the Oklahoma City Thunder.
But for every good Chalmers moment, there was always a questionable turnover or foul that had Heat fans pulling hairs out. I even built a lamp-throwing gimmick thanks to him. This was one of the last things I wrote about him, after the Heat-Pacers game on Friday night”
"Chalmers checked into the game with four minutes left in the first quarter, promptly picking up a steal and a foul in his first 30 seconds. Pretty sure that was the most Mario Chalmers sequence of his career."
Needless to say, the Mario Chalmers Era was quite the adventure.
A Chalmers trade seemed to be in the cards, as the Heat were look to shed salary to avoid the repeater tax, and his expiring contract was as good a trade chip as any. The emergence of Tyler Johnson, plus the potential of Josh Richardson, made Chalmers even more expendable. This deal should also indicate that Gerald Green is close to returning from his undisclosed illness.
Ennis was the Heat’s second round pick in the 2013 Draft that spent his first professional season playing in Puerto Rico and Australia, winning the latter’s championship. His crowning moment with the Heat was posterizing Rasual Butler on Opening Night 2014, coincidentally assisted by Chalmers.
But Ennis’s future with the Heat was in doubt when he couldn’t carve out a role in Miami’s rotation, last season. He was rumored to be a possible candidate to not make this season’s roster, as his contract wasn’t guaranteed unless he made the final roster. Yet he only appeared in three games, this season, playing mop-up minutes. He finishes his time with the Heat with 4.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.
Udrih, in his 12th season from Slovenia, would be joining his seventh team, and carries with him career averages of 8.7 points and 4.7 assists, while shooting 46% from the field, and 35% from three. Stokes is a former 2014 second round pick by the Utah Jazz that was sent over to Memphis. He’s only played in 21 career games, with averages of 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds.
Personally, I’m going to miss Chalmers. Sure, he was frustrating to watch, and I had many lamps thrown because of him. But he was a gamer. You can go to battle with him. And he was the kind of player you – ultimately – enjoyed having on your team.
From the All U Can Heat staff, thank you for everything, Mario Chalmers.