James Jones still a Heat priority?

Q: Ira, can we afford to re-sign James Jones next year? I know we might have the mid-level exception, but can we use Bird Rights on him and still use the mid-level exception on another player, too? Thanks. — Alex.

A: I have checked on this, and, yes, the Heat can use Bird Rights on James, if, in fact, the old rules continue to apply. The greater issue is, with a tighter or harder cap, whether the Heat would opt to extend much more than a minimum salary to retain a player who became buried behind Mike Miller by season’s end. For that matter, whether James would want to return in such a role is another issue.

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(sun-sentinel.com)