Haslem stays home; Heat looking to sign Miller

Basketball Betting Lines

07/12/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udonis Haslem has opted to stay in Miami, and the Heat are reportedly in contract talks with sharpshooter Mike Miller.

Haslem was an unrestricted free agent that was offered larger deals by the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks before taking Miami's offer of roughly $4 million per year for five years, according to the Miami Herald.

The Heat now have five players under contract after LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed free agent contracts last week with the club, joining superstar Dwyane Wade and guard Mario Chalmers.

But according to the Sun Sentinel on Monday, Miami is close to adding Miller, who played with Haslem at the University of Florida. Miller, a career 40.5 percent three-point shooter, has been on three teams the last three years, playing 54 games for Washington last season and averaging 13.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists.

Over his 10-year career, Miller has logged 13.7 points and 5.1 boards over 693 contests with the Magic, Grizzlies, Timberwolves and Wizards.

Haslem, a Miami native, has spent his entire seven-year career with the Heat and is the only player other than Wade that has stayed in Miami following its 2006 title.

"I am excited to be back," Haslem said. "It's a great opportunity to win. Miami has always been my home, and I'm happy I can play here for years to come."

The 30-year-old has played an integral reserve role for the Heat throughout his career, averaging 10.0 points and 8.1 rebounds while logging nearly 31 minutes per game over 517 contests.

Wwwldell Basketball Betting News

<< Heat send Beasley to Minnesota for picks
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat made it official on Monday by shipping the No. 2 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Michael Beasley, to the Minnesota Timberwolves for a pair of second round draft picks. The Timberwolve

<< Stern says Miami's Big 3 acted within rights
NBA commissioner David Stern says LeBron James was ``entitled'' to decide to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.Speaking from Las Vegas, where the league's owners were meeting Monday during summer league, Stern said he would have advis

<< Dillon quickly making a name for himself in NASCAR
Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Look out NASCAR, there's a promising young gun on the horizon. Austin Dillon is looking more and more like the next big up-and-comer in the sport after winning his first Camping World Truck Series race in domina

<< Spurs sign Splitter
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs signed power forward/center Tiago Splitter on Monday. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. The 25-year-old was taken with the 28th overall selection in the 2007 NB

<< Magic agree to deal with Richardson
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Magic have agreed in principle to a multi- year contract with free agent swingman Quentin Richardson, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Richardson, 30, averaged 8.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 76 game

Beltre expects to play in All-Star Game >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre told the team's website on Monday he is confident he will take part in Tuesday's All-Star Game. The news came just hours after American League manager

Ernst leads Publinx after first stroke-play round >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derek Ernst fired a six-under 65 Monday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of stroke play at the U.S. Amateur Public Links. Ernst's round included nine birdies, six of which came in a

Gilbert disagrees with Jackson's views, fined $100,000 by NBA >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert released a statement on Monday in regards to Jesse Jackson's reaction to his open letter to LeBron James last Thursday. Hours after James announced his decisio

T'Wolves finalize deal with Milicic; ink two first-round picks >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves signed center Darko Milicic on Monday. Reports indicated it's a four-year contract worth close to $20 million. The team also inked 2010 first-round draft picks Wesley

Lions extend QB Hill >>
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions extended the contract of quarterback Shaun Hill through the 2011 season. Hill was acquired in a March trade with San Francisco. He spent his first four NFL seasons with Minnesota, then

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.