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Heat, center Thomas Bryant agree to 2-year, $5.4M deal

Free agent center Thomas Bryant has agreed on a two-year, $5.4 million deal with the Miami Heat, his agents, Mark Bartelstein and Zach Kurtin of Priority Sports, told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday.

The deal includes a player option for the second year.

Bryant, who turns 26 later this month, signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers last offseason after an ACL injury cost him most of his 2020-21 and 2021-22 campaigns with the Washington Wizards.

He played in 41 games for the Lakers, starting 25, and averaged 12.1 points and 6.8 rebounds on 65.4% shooting from the field. He was traded to a Denver Nuggets team with eyes on a championship at the deadline and appeared in only a few games down the stretch before falling out of the rotation entirely in the postseason.

Bryant is a talented scorer with good touch around the rim and has shown an ability to pop out beyond the 3-point line. He has career averages of 10.1 points and 5.7 rebounds on nearly 60% shooting from the field and 36.6% from 3-point range.

Along with Kevin Love, Bryant will help provide the Heat with more shooting in the frontcourt around Bam Adebayo.