NBA News: Chalmers Wants to Stay in Miami
Miami Heat starting point guard Mario Chalmers wants another run with the Miami Heat despite a poor showing in the recent NBA Finals.
"I hope we stay together," Chalmers told Yahoo Sports. "I think we have a good thing going."
Chalmers was obviously not referring to the recent best-of-seven championship series where they embarrassingly lost in just 5 games to the San Antonio Spurs.
The 28-year-old point guard who has spent all of his six years in the NBA with the Heat was one of the key players in their back-to-back title runs but completely disappeared in the 2014 NBA Finals.
After averaging 9.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 29.8 minutes in the regular season, his numbers dropped gradually from the first round until the finals where he logged just 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 23.2 minutes.
“This is one of the toughest challenges I've ever been through,'' Chalmers said before Game 4, where he lost the starting job. Chalmers started 19 of 20 games in the 2014 postseason.
The struggle has come at the worst time for Chalmers, who is in his final year of his contract with the Heat, which will also address the status of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chrish Bosh and their potential pending free agency.
'We still have faith in him, trust in him and we need him,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said in support of his erstwhile starting point guard. ''And he's been able to play through tough times and been able to bounce back. Look, he's not the only guy that's been struggling at some point, and the most important thing is you have an opportunity to help and impact a win in the next game.''
That statement came before the Game 4 loss however and it remains to be seen if Spo and the rest of the Heat brass still have faith and trust in Chalmers going into next season.