1:37pm: Miami sent the Kings enough cash to cover Mason’s salary, according to Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
12:38pm: The Heat have officially announced the deal. Their press release doesn’t mention any cash as part of the transaction, but it notes the second-round pick coming their way is for 2015.
10:22am: The Kings will acquire Roger Mason Jr. and subsequently waive him, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel suggests the Heat will send cash to Sacramento in addition to the veteran shooting guard (on Twitter), and Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets confirmation of that detail. The Heat will drop to 14 players with the deal, allowing them to bring someone else aboard via signing or another trade. Sacramento will take Mason into its last remaining roster spot after acquiring Jason Terry and Reggie Evans for Marcus Thornton on Wednesday, then open that spot again after letting him go.
The Heat will receive a highly protected second-round pick that Sacramento is unlikely to ever have to actually convey, Stein tweets. Mason tells TNT’s David Aldridge he’s unsure where he’ll sign after Sacramento lets him go (Twitter link).
Mason is earning the minimum salary this year after making the Heat out of training camp. He’s receiving close to $1.4MM, but his cap hit is only $884,293. The latter number will remain on Sacramento’s books, since his salary is guaranteed for the season.
The 10th-year veteran is averaging just 3.0 points in 10.4 minutes per game. but he’s made a pair of starts this season in place of an injured Dwyane Wade. Mason has also been a major force within the National Basketball Players Association during his time in the league, but that hasn’t kept him from securing NBA work despite having been only a fringe rotation player for most of the past four seasons.
lol gotta love these kinds of trades