The Heat may take a step back this season, but on an individual level, Mario Chalmers‘ father says that his son is excited about his role for the coming season, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. “As sad we all are to see LeBron [James] go, Mario’s excited to go back to his natural position. He loves being a playmaker. And there will be more opportunities to score,” said Ronnie Chalmers. Here’s more out of the Southeast Division..
- Despite the controversy surrounding the Hawks and the racist comments made by owner Bruce Levenson and GM Danny Ferry, Atlanta will continue to be a free agent destination, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com opines. Blakely believes that the organization will distance themselves from the incident and people involved as quickly as possible, and players will use the departures of those involved as justification for signing with the team.
- The Heat are still looking at backup veteran centers, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Miami recently signed undrafted power forward Khem Birch but their search for size is not yet through.
- The Hawks‘ issues are a matter of league-wide importance, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Beyond the very obvious problems with what went on in Atlanta, former union executive director Charles Grantham wonders aloud if teams are sharing negative information on their players to reduce their worth. Ferry reportedly received negative information on Luol Deng from another club and then mentioned it on the now infamous conference call.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.