Okay, we have had about a week to digest the trade that the Miami Heat made to send guard Mario Chalmers to the Memphis Grizzlies. Initially I was very frustrated with the deal for a couple of reasons. This first reason was simply that when Chalmers was traded to Miami on draft night, I became a Heat fan because he was my favorite player from the University Of Kansas. The second reason was because I felt that Chalmers was still a very capable point guard for the Heat and that Miami should have traded Chris Anderson instead.

Now that I have had time to process it all, I have decided that it was a very good trade for both teams. Miami was able to unload Chalmers’ contract while also letting Tyler Johnson do his thing. Memphis added a three-point shooter and a two-time Finals champion.

I can assure you that Memphis has enjoyed having ‘Rio on the team. He has become the x-factor for the Grizzlies and has played a major role in their recent wins. It appears to me that Chalmers is back to playing like his old self after his field goal percentages went down after LeBron James left town.

When Memphis played Oklahoma City Monday night, Chalmers literally tore the Thunder to pieces while scoring 29 points. This was the highest scoring game he has had since his 10 three pointers during the 2013-14 season.

Last season reports came out that Chalmers didn’t know what his role was in Miami anymore. To some extent you can understand why. He went from being the 3-and-D point guard for the Big 3 Miami Heat to being a back PG for a team that didn’t make the playoffs. Also, he was moved to shooting guard throughout the last season. You could almost say that Chalmers had worn out his tenure in Miami; that Miami needed a fresh start. While I do not agree with the previous two sentences, I do realize that the emergence of Tyler Johnson had made Chalmers replaceable. Pretty much, all Heat fans saw it coming, but it still felt really weird when the trade went down.

Whether you like it or not, Chalmers has career stats that I think deserve him a spot in the Miami Heat Hall of Fame. While people had a tendency over hype his faults, he was actually an extremely important piece on the Miami Heat for the past seven years.

I’m happy for ‘Rio and you should be too. While it was bittersweet to see him go, I’m glad he has experienced some early success in Memphis.