Chalmers, six other KU products hit free agency market

Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers (15) goes to the basket as San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) defends in the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals, Thursday, June 12, 2014, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Most NBA free agents can’t wait for July 1. Shortly after midnight, the league’s 30 teams can begin their full-court, offseasson press, courting the players they hope to throw multi-million dollar salaries at.

The start of free agency figures to bring equal parts anticipation and uncertainty to unrestricted free agent Mario Chalmers, coming off his sixth NBA season with Miami.

While the 6-foot-2 point guard from Kansas University became a starting lineup mainstay with the Heat, right along with superstar LeBron James and all-stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, his days with the Heat might be over after appearing in four straight NBA Finals with the organization that drafted him in the second round in 2008.

With Miami trying to figure out a way to to bring back the most sought after star in the NBA universe, James, as well as Wade and Bosh — all three free agents themselves — and trying to save every penny it can in the process, Chalmers suddenly appears dispensable. Though the former KU hero averaged 9.8 points and 4.9 assists this past regular season for Miami, but those numbers dropped to 6.4 points and 3.6 assists in the playoffs. Making matters worse for the free agent, Chalmers only put up 4.4 points and 2.8 assists, and averaged 2.0 turnovers in 23.1 minutes a game in the Finals, when San Antonio disposed of the back-to-back champs in five games.

Those five lackluster nights — 33 percent field goals in the series, 1-for-7 from 3-point range — in front of a world wide audience ignited the Twitter trolls, who posted pictures of trash alongside Chalmers’ name or claimed his next uniform will be the one issued to Home Depot employees.

Of course, the only opinion that really matters is that of Heat president Pat Riley (who also figures to be keenly aware of LeBron’s viewpoint). The night of the draft, James tweeted: “My favorite player in the draft! #Napier.”

Shortly after, Miami pulled off a trade with Charlotte to attain the draft rights to Connecticut point guard Shabazz Napier.

Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick wrote about Riley’s ability to acquire Napier without giving up Miami’s other point guard, Norris Cole. Miami’s man in charge said the incoming UConn rookie and Cole would compete for playing time, and didn’t offer much on where that leaves Chalmers.

“Mario’s a free agent, so (we’ve) got
to deal with that,” Riley said in the
report.

Back on June 17, Skolnick caught up with Chalmers as players packed up for the summer and tweeted that the free agent point guard would prefer to stay with Miami, but was “excited” about free agency.

“Nobody wants to leave South Florida,”
Chalmers told Skolnick. “We’ll see
what happens.”

NBCSports.com’s Kurt Helin put Chalmers at No. 42 on his list of top 50 free agents. At USA Today’s hoopshype.com, Chalmers comes in as the No. 10 point guard available this summer.

He won’t be the only Kansas product chasing a new contract. In total, six other Jayhawks are unrestricted free agents: Brooklyn’s Paul Pierce, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Xavier Henry, Chicago’s Kirk Hinrich, Washington’s Drew Gooden, Utah’s Brandon Rush and New York’s Cole Aldrich.

Pierce seemed likely to re-sign with the Nets, but over the past few days, the team’s head coach, Jason Kidd, decided he would rather work for Milwaukee. By Monday, the two organizations reached a deal to make Kidd the new coach of the Bucks. A new coach in Brooklyn could mean no more Pierce,

As ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin reported, Henry is recovering from a torn ligament in his left wrist and an abnormality in his right knee’s meniscus. He could still be weeks of rehab away from 100 percent.

“All I know is I can play,” Henry told
McMenamin. “And when I’m 100 percent
next season, I’m going to bring the
energy and be able to play.”

Hinrich stated on more than one occasion during the season that he would prefer to stay with the Bulls. But he might have to do some waiting to figure out if that’s possible, as Chicago should be one of the major players in free agency and a possible landing spot for Carmelo Anthony.

Gooden, a late-season addition to Washington’s roster might start his 13th NBA season in a striped Wizards uniform. Yahoo’s Marc J. Spears tweeted Monday afternoon that the veteran power forward is expected to re-sign with D.C. for the league minimum.

The future, at this point, is far more unpredictable for Aldrich and Rush, though re-signing seems unlikely for either.

The Denver Nuggets’ Darrell Arthur could have made it eight Jayhawks in free agency, but exercised the player option on his contract, instead of testing the waters. The six-year pro will make just under $3.5 million this coming season.

– Follow @BentonASmith on Twitter.