Steve Francis Signs with Houston, What Now?

Well, it would have been nice to land Francis for the veteran minimum contract of 1.1M, but he got more money from Houston: $6 million to be exact.

A two year deal for 3 million a piece means that Houston was willing to dip a little more into the MLE (minimum level exception) than Miami or even the Clippers were willing.

Boy I sure hope there is a backup plan here. Still, you have to defend Riley in that he is not willing to spend more money on players just because. Getting Francis at the veteran mimimum was the deal, paying more on top of the 30M payout the Trailblazers gave him was not. So, the Heat, looking to buy, will move on pass the glass cases and see what is in the backroom. After all, there are smarter, more valuable options still available (Dahntay Jones, for example).

In fact, this might all but assure Eddie Jones gets another year with the Heat.

Or perhaps the Heat will pull it together and finally pull the trigger on a deal for Mike Bibby. Soon, we'll know.