The Sun Sentinel confirmed Sunday that the Heat will trade Shabazz Napier to the Orlando Magic in exchange for a future protected second-round pick.
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As part of last year’s draft class, Napier made noise after apparently being a player that LeBron James wanted to be in the Heat squad heading into last season. Chalmers’ salary actually would cost the Heat around $16 million, via Albert Nahmad, when considering Miami’s tax penalties.
Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson stated that Chalmers is the main guy that the Heat want to trade but 24-year-old Shabazz Napier is also on the trading block. The heavily-tatted forward appeared in 60 games with the Heat last season, averaging 5.3 points and 5.0 rebounds over 18.9 minutes per night.
In terms of three-point shooting, Napier is merely passable at 36.4 percent. He led Connecticut to a national championship, and was rated very highly by former Miami star LeBron James. Yahoo! Sports first reported the trade.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers re-signed restricted free agent guard Matthew Dellavedova, and traded center Brendan Haywood, guard/forward Mike Miller and two future second-round draft picks to the Portland Trail Blazers. He will now join a young Orlando Magic team that has bolstered their point guard position. Still mostly unproven after season-ending surgery for sports hernia, Napier now moves a few hours up Florida’s Turnpike to play for a team that mostly rebuilds through the draft. The deal amounts to what is basically a cash dump for the Heat. The contract will give Appling a chance to participate in the Magic’s training camp, but Napier’s presence likely will make it hard for Appling to make the regular-season roster. Napier played one game there, scoring 14 points with four boards, six assists, and one turnover.
