Miami Heat president Pat Rily has met with free agent Luol Deng in hopes of signing the veteran forward and bolster the Heat bench.
According to ESPN, the meeting which took place in Chicago on Saturday was 'preliminary.' The website quoted a source as saying that Riley tried to convince Deng to join the four-time defending East champions and presumably get a chance at winning a ring.
It remains to be seen how Riley's efforts will turn out seeing that the Heat may not have enough cap space to sign Deng. According to Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, it is believed that Deng will not take a salary significantly lower than his market value pegged at $10 million a year just to sign with the Heat and perhaps be LeBron James' chief back-up.
Riley is in a lot of pressure to rebuild the Heat roster after four-time MVP James and All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all opted out of their contracts. There is still no word on whether the so-called Big Three will re-sign with the Heat or go elsewhere.
Another challenge that Riley has to take is that the Heat doesn't know how much money it can throw at Deng because they have not re-signed any one from the Big Three.
Deng is one of the most coveted free agents in the market, with suitors like his former team Chicago Bulls, LA Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, and Atlanta Hawks hot on his trail.
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