Heat confirms Cavaliers sign Moon to offer sheet

Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — As the Miami Heat waits to sort out its big picture, amid interest in Lakers forward Lamar Odom and Jazz forward Carlos Boozer, it appears a little one could be getting away.

The Heat confirmed Sunday that the Cavaliers have signed restricted free-agent forward Jamario Moon to an offer sheet.

By rule, an offer sheet must be for at least two seasons, not including option years, which should give the Heat pause amid its goal of retaining salary-cap space for 2010 free agency.

Once the Heat receives the offer sheet, likely today, it will have seven days to decide whether to match or relinquish its rights to the forward, acquired at last season’s trading deadline from the Raptors along with center Jermaine O’Neal for forward Shawn Marion.

The Heat already has three options at small forward under contract: James Jones, Yakhouba Diawara and Dorell Wright, as well as its bid to land Odom as a free agent. And that does not even factor in the time 2008 first-round pick Michael Beasley has been spending at small forward this summer in his bid to expand his game from a purely power role.

With 11 players already under contract for next season, and with Heat President Pat Riley stating the team may carry as few as 13 next season, it appears unlikely the Heat would match Cleveland’s offer. The 11-player total does not include 2009 draft picks Patrick Beverley and Robert Dozier, or free agents Jamaal Magloire, Joel Anthony and Luther Head.

Should the Heat match Cleveland’s offer, it then would be unable to include Moon in trades until mid-December, and then only with his permission for the next year.

After recently signing Raptors free-agent guard Anthony Parker, the Cavaliers have about $3.2 million left from their $5.9 million mid-level exception to add another free agent. Moon earned $712,000 last season. While his qualifying offer from the Heat was worth about $1 million for next season, only one quarter of that figure was guaranteed.

Moon had his moments with the Heat last season before a groin injury sidelined him midway through the first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks. He underwent what the Heat termed successful sports-hernia surgery as the team was being eliminated in seven games.

Moon led the NBA in steals-to-turnover ratio last season at 2-to-1 and finished 40th in the league in steals per game.

While he started 21 of his 26 regular-season appearances for the Heat, the 29-year-old journeyman lost that role to Jones at the end of the regular season and in the playoffs.

While the Heat is seeking to retain its future cap flexibility in its bid to retain guard Dwyane Wade, who can become a free agent next summer, the Cavaliers have taken an all-in approach this offseason, acquiring center Shaquille O’Neal and Parker, re-signing free-agent forward Anderson Varejao to a lucrative contract, and now making the bid for Moon.

Like Wade, Cavaliers forward LeBron James also can become a free agent next summer. Unlike the Heat, Cleveland is not positioning itself to acquire another A-list free agent next summer. Both Wade and James currently are in position to immediately sign contract extensions.