Category: Miami Heat Blog

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed guard Garrett Temple.

Temple has appeared in 51 NBA games (four starts) over the last three seasons with five different teams and averaged 3.8 points, 1.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 11.1 minutes of action. He has also appeared in 54 NBA Development League games (16 starts) over that span averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.30 steals and 34.6 minutes while shooting 42 percent from the field, 36.9 percent from three-point range and 77.5 percent from the foul line. He spent last season with Junior Casale Monferrato of the Italian Serie A2 League, appearing in 28 games and averaged 9.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.50 steals in 27.3 minutes while shooting 39.8 percent from the field and 83 percent from the foul line.

Temple split the 2010-11 season between the Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs while also spending time in the NBA D-League with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the Erie BayHawks. Prior to that during the 2009-10 season, he spent time with the Houston Rockets, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Temple attended Louisiana State University, appearing in 134 collegiate games for the Tigers.

The Heat’s roster now stands at 17.

LeBron James has parted ways with agent Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency and will now be represented by his longtime friend, Rich Paul, who also has left CAA to start his own company: Klutch Sports Management, sources told Yahoo! Sports. James made the move official when he filed paperwork with the NBA Players’ Association Wednesday afternoon.

Paul will be James’ third representative since James entered the league in 2003 as a client of Aaron Goodwin.

Paul began working for CAA in 2008. Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson and San Antonio Spurs guard Cory Joseph are among his clients, along with Charlotte Bobcats rookie forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who is jointly managed by Paul and Rose. Paul is working to soon become officially certified as an agent. His new agency will be based in his hometown of Cleveland, where James played for the Cavaliers from 2003-2010.

— Reported by Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed forward Jarvis Varnado and free agent center Mickell Gladness.

Varnado was a second-round draft choice (41st overall) by the Heat in the 2010 NBA Draft after concluding his collegiate career at Mississippi State as the NCAA’s all-time leading shot-blocker. He has spent the past two seasons playing overseas in Italy and Israel. Last year he began the season appearing in 12 games with Hapoel Migdal Jerusalem of the Israeli Super League where he averaged 9.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.00 blocks and 23.6 minutes while shooting 58.8 percent from the floor. On Jan. 31, 2012, he signed with Acea Virtus Roma of the Italian Lega A and averaged 10.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.00 blocks and 23.6 minutes while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor in 14 games.

Gladness, who went undrafted out of Alabama A&M in 2008, made his NBA debut with the Heat on Dec. 25, 2011 and split last season between Miami and Golden State. He appeared in 26 games (seven starts) during the 2011-12 season and averaged 2.2 points, 2.2 rebounds, 0.77 blocks and 9.7 minutes while shooting 42.4 percent from the floor. Gladness appeared in eight games with Miami, averaging 0.3 points, 1.4 rebounds and 3.5 minutes before being released on Feb. 7. He returned to the Heat on a pair of 10-day contracts (Feb. 12 and Feb. 28) and then was signed to a 10-day contract by the Golden State Warriors on Mar. 22. Gladness signed for the remainder of the season with the Warriors on Apr. 1. This will mark the third straight season Gladness has participated in training camp for the Heat. He was originally signed by Miami as a free agent on Sept. 27, 2010 and waived on Oct. 11, 2010.  He was re-signed by Miami on Dec. 10, 2011 and made the team last year before his subsequent release on Feb. 7, 2012. He has also seen action with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (2009-11) and Dakota Wizards (2011) of the NBA’s Development League and with Matrixx Magix Nijmegen in Holland (2008-09).

Both Varnado and Gladness played for the Heat’s 2012 Summer League team which competed in Las Vegas in July. Varnado appeared in two games (one start) and averaged 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 15.0 minutes. Gladness appeared in four games and averaged 5.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.50 blocks and 12.0 minutes while shooting 53.8 percent from the field.

The Heat’s roster now stands at 15.

Appearing on “The View” at the start of his book tour, Wade was asked by host Barbara Walters about the left knee that required July 9 arthroscopic surgery.

“I’m doing great,” he said. “I’m ahead of schedule. The knee’s OK, so I’m ahead of schedule.”

However, in an interview with a Houston radio station as part of his media tour, he spoke of easing into the post-surgery process.

“That’s my goal, to be full strength,” he said. “Obviously, coming off surgery, even in the beginning of the year, [the goal is] to continue to work your way into things and hopeful hit your stride some point midseason, where you feel your best.”

Wade began court work last week with assistant coach David Fizdale, posting a photo of that session on his Twitter account.

Former New York Knicks backup center Josh Harrellson is in the mix to be in the mix for the Miami Heat.

Dealt in the offseason to the Houston Rockets in the Marcus Camby sign-and-trade and later released, Harrellson auditioned for the Heat recently and is on the verge of doing so again.

Monday, on his Twitter account, Harrellson posted, “Kentucky it’s been fun! Glad I got to see everyone! Now heading to Miami for hopefully the next 9 months.”

Harrellson was drafted out of the University of Kentucky with the No. 45 pick of the 2011 NBA Draft by the New Orleans Hornets, with his draft rights then traded to the Knicks.

Harrellson later re-tweeted a reply to his Twitter account emphasizing the “hopefully” part of his original post.

— Reported by Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

It won’t be difficult to play “Where’s Wade?” this week. Dwyane Wade is about to hit New York like a cyclone with the start of his book tour.

“A Father First: How my life became bigger than basketball” will be released Tuesday, which also is when the Miami Heat’s All-Star guard will storm Manhattan.

From Letterman to Calvin Klein, from ESPN to CNN, Wade is about to enter a whirlwind week that culminates with three South Florida book signings this coming weekend.

Two weeks after that, training camp will open.

For Wade, it starts Tuesday on ABC Radio, continues with two segments alongside Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar on “The View,” then a book signing on 5th Avenue, a mid-afternoon media session at the NBA Store, a late-afternoon taping of “The Late Show with David Letterman” and an ESPN fashion panel followed by an ESPN book party at Lincoln Center.

And that’s just Tuesday.

— Reported by Ira WInderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel