The Heat have officially exercised their fourth-year option on Norris Cole, the team announced today (Twitter link). Cole had already been under contract for the coming season, but now his deal will be guaranteed for 2014/15 as well. He’ll be in line for a salary of $2.04MM in ’14/15.
Cole, 24, has been the Heat’s backup point guard for the last two years, winning a pair of titles with the team. The former 28th overall pick posted identical PERs of 7.9 in his first two NBA seasons, along with 6.1 PPG and 2.0 APG in 145 career contests (19.7 MPG).
Despite a recent report suggesting that Miami was gauging Cole’s trade value, a Heat source tells Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld that it was little more than “due diligence.” For his part, Cole isn’t letting the rumors bother him, as Shandel Richardson of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes.
For a complete breakdown on 2014/15 rookie contract options, be sure to check out our tracker. Decisions on those third- and fourth-year options are due by Halloween.
He has shown improvement offensively with better decision making and an improved jumpshot. Hopefully that continues. All that matters is that he is huge for us defensively.