Granger & McBob Added to Heat's Bench Arsenal

The uncertainty of LeBron James' home in the Fall has been the talk of the sports world right now. James is involved with almost every possible headline imaginable right now. The few teams after James are doing anything they can to lure him in. Miami Heat made the first real offseason moves for them signing Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts in hopes to attract everyone back to Miami to make a run for a fifth straight Finals appearance.  Who knows what Granger has left in the tank, but McRoberts is an upgrade in the front court.

It is crazy to think in 2010 and 2012, Granger played on FIBA World Championships for Team USA. He used to be the man around these parts as one of the more underrated players in basketball. Granger started battling knee injuries and became of a shell of himself leading to Indiana getting rid of him mid-season. He finished the season with the Los Angeles Clippers yielding decent results only averaging about eight points a game. Granger hasn't seen a double-digit scoring average since 2011-2012 season. It also has something to do with the fact he has only played in 46 games the last two seasons due to knee problems.

Granger really did nothing for Los Angeles when it came playoff time. He did not see many minutes only playing about 10 a game and averaging a meager two points in 13 playoff games. My guess is Miami hopes he can become what Rashard Lewis brought to the table last season, and be a guy to stand around the 3-point line to be a kick out man. Granger is an upgrade from Lewis in my honest opinion, and you never really know if he was healthy at all last season. Not saying he could reach double-digits again in scoring rather he might have more of an impact now a full season behind his knee problems.

For Josh McRoberts, he bounced around the league after being drafted in the second round by Portland in 2007. He might resemble a member of Mumford and Sons, but McRoberts can bring an edge to this Heat team they were missing a little bit last season. Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem are guys not to screw with, but Haslem is past his prime losing impact every minute. McRoberts is going to fill the void of Haslem and become their first low-post off-the-bench talent in quite some time. Further, Basketball Reference compares players using a variety of metrics and McRoberts numbers are second to Birdman.  It is not out of the realm of possibilities to see McRoberts get a couple starts as well if Erik Spoelstra decides to go with a small lineup.

Last year, Charlotte Hornets gave McRoberts a chance to start and for the most part, he made sure to keep himself there. He averaged over four assists a game, the highest total for him in his entire career. He averaged about eight points a game, and revived his 3-point shooting which ended up at 36 percent.  McRoberts didn't show it much last season likely due to Al Jefferson, but he can grab rebounds. He has been over 15 percent for his entire career minus last season when it comes to Defensive Rebound Percentage. I expect the number to move higher next season.

The jury is still out on whether the Big Three will be back, but Miami definitely got better on their bench with the two moves to ink McRoberts and Granger. Now, they just need to convince their superstars to re-up with the team.

Charlie.