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Seven weeks after signing former Lakers starter Smush Parker to compete with incumbent starter Jason Williams, the Heat extended a five-year, $18.3 million offer sheet Monday to Bucks combo guard Charlie Bell. Because Bell is a restricted free agent, Milwaukee has seven days, until next Monday, to decide whether to match the offer. Heat coach Pat Riley met in South Florida over the weekend with Bell and told the 28-year-old veteran he would have the opportunity to compete for a starting role at point guard. Based on Riley's offseason rhetoric about getting his team back below the NBA's dollar-for-dollar luxury tax on excessive payrolls, and considering Bell's desire to spend more time at point guard, Williams' Heat future now appears tenuous. Not only is Williams coming off two injury-plagued seasons, but he holds a $9 million expiring contract. Should the Heat be able to move his deal for a lower-priced contract of a much-needed small forward, say Golden State free agent Mickael Pietrus, the Heat would be able to balance its roster while also reducing its luxury-tax exposure. The Heat currently is $4 million above the tax, with a Bell addition to put it more than $7 million above the threshold. Bell would become the Heat's highest-priced free-agent addition this offseason, with the team's entire $5.4 million mid-level salary-cap exception split between Bell and Smush Parker. Bell first turned to a team in the Greek League and then the Heat after the Bucks declined to go above a $3 million average and as long as five years. He said Monday he is hopeful Milwaukee would bypass its right to match, despite having little veteran depth behind starting point guard Mo Williams, a player the Heat unsuccessfully pursued at the start of free agency with its entire mid-level exception. "Miami stepped up and made a commitment. Milwaukee told me they didn't have the resources," Bell said. "Right now, I don't know if I can go back there and play my hardest if your heart's not in it." Bell said Riley did not discuss the Heat's backcourt glut, which also includes first-round pick Daequan Cook and veteran Penny Hardaway at shooting guard behind starter Dwyane Wade, who is expected to miss the first two weeks of the season following knee and shoulder surgery last May. "I just know Dwyane is not 100 percent yet and I know there's an opportunity to play at both spots," Bell said, with Allan Houston's NBA comeback bid likely no longer on the Heat's radar. Bell ranked 19th in the league last season in 3-point shots and 25th in 3-point conversions. The Heat is in need of 3-point shooting after losing Jason Kapono and James Posey in free agency. The 6-foot-3 guard, though, is hoping to establish a reputation as a playmaker, having played point guard earlier in his career. He also would add a defensive toughness the Heat lacked last season with Williams and an aging Gary Payton. Bell's five-year deal would put him under contract longer than any other Heat point guard, with Williams holding his expiring deal, Smush Parker holding a player option for 2008-09, and Chris Quinn on a one-year, guaranteed contract. Bell appeared in all 82 games for the Bucks last season, starting 64. He averaged a career-best 13.5 points, 3.0 assists, 2.9 rebounds, 1.18 steals in an average of 34.7 minutes. Training camp opens two weeks from today.
See more at www.sun-sentinel.com
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