Heat sign talented, troubled Woods

In a move somewhat reminiscent of the Lamar Odom signing, where a talented, but troubled young player was brought into Miami, the Heat scooped up Qyntel Woods yesterday.

Woods, 23 and 6'8", was the 21st pick in the 2002 draft by the Trailblazers out of Northeast Mississippi Community College where he averaged 32.3 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 23 games.

Currently, there has been some off-court trouble with Woods. After pleading guilty to abusing his pit bull (over an investigation into dog-fighting), he was sentenced to 12 months probation and 80 hours of community service. Woods is also due to serve a 5 game suspension for failing his drug test. The suspension could not be served while he was dismissed from the Trailblazers, so it began when he reported to the Heat for the first time last night, against the Raptors. He will be available Feb. 5th against Chicago.

"This gives us an opportunity to go after somebody that we were very high on three years ago when we drafted Caron [Butler]," Riley told ESPN Radio 790 (WAXY-AM). "We feel like we want to replenish the youth a little bit too here. He's a very talented kid. He's a legitimate small forward with loads of talent. We're willing to take a shot at it."

With Riley on board, Stan Van Gundy feels confident that Woods will get his act together. "Pat Riley has tried his hardest in Miami where guys are treated like adults and professionals and expected to act as such, and most guys fall in line," Van Gundy said. "Qyntel was a very young guy when a lot of this stuff happened...As guys get older, they learn some things and they tend to mature. I don't think that there's anything there that people should be overly alarmed at."

As for the rest of the roster, Jerome Beasley was waived and Wesley Person was moved to the IR. Beasley has been somewhat of a project and has never seemed to progress enough for the Heat, who selected him 33rd overall in the 2003 draft. As for Person, he has fallen out of the rotation and may be dealt - but a team would have to swallow his $1.6M salary.