While the news of LeBron James heading back to Cleveland was devastating for the Miami Heat, they have started the process of picking up the pieces very quickly. Chris Bosh will be returning to Miami next season, as he has accepted their five year maximum contract offer. This news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
When James first announced that he would be signing with the Cavaliers, it seemed to be a sure thing that Bosh would accept the four year maximum offer that he received earlier in the week from the Houston Rockets. Instead, Pat Riley acted quickly, and can now build the Heat around Bosh.
Bosh has averaged 17.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game in his four years with the Heat. He was mostly a glorified role player behind James and Dwyane Wade, but expect his role to grow immensely starting next season.
The Heat will now turn their attention to Wade. If they can bring him in a decent price, Miami should have the room to add some more pieces in this costless agency period.
Obviously losing the best player in the game is tough, but bringing back Bosh is a nice first step in rebuilding this team. The Eastern Conference is still relatively weak, and completely up for grabs. A few right moves, and solid progression from key young guys, and the Heat could easily be right in the thick of things once again next season.