Heat agree to bring back James Jones

Basketball Betting Lines

07/18/2010 - Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Heat have reportedly agreed to bring back forward James Jones at the veteran's minimum.

Miami requested waivers on the seven-year veteran in June, buying out the final three years of his previous contract to make him a free agent.

The Miami Herald reported Jones spurned larger offers, including a reported $6 million deal with the Spurs, for a chance to return to the new-look Heat.

Jones would provide another outside shooting threat on a roster being stacked with veterans and rookies alongside LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade.

It's been speculated for some time the Heat are also in the works to add free agent forward Juwan Howard and also re-sign guard Carlos Arroyo and center Jamaal Magloire.

Jones spent the past two seasons with Miami as a reserve and appeared in 36 games last year while averaging 4.1 points in 14 minutes per game. The 29- year-old connected on 37 three-pointers, hitting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Over 366 games, including 65 starts, Jones has averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 39.5 percent from three-point range. He has also logged stints with Indiana, Phoenix and Portland.

Wwwpchlotto Basketball Betting News

<< Yankees' Pettitte leaves game with strained groin
NEW YORK (AP) -Andy Pettitte has left the New York Yankees' game against Tampa Bay in the third inning because of a strained left groin.Making his first start since pitching in the All-Star game Tuesday night, the 38-year-old left-hander never appea

<< Toronto activates Marcum to make Sunday start
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays activated pitcher Shaun Marcum from the 15-day disabled list. Marcum went on the DL July 2 with inflammation in his throwing elbow. The right-hander started Sunday's game agai

<< Oosthuizen cruises to first major title
St. Andrews, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There was little drama Sunday at the British Open Championship. Louis Oosthuizen eagled the ninth and after a birdie on the 12th, he was eight strokes clear of the field. The South African cruise

<< Burnett apologizes to Yankees for outburst
NEW YORK (AP) -A.J. Burnett says he has apologized to his New York Yankees teammates for a clubhouse fit that left him with cuts on both hands.Sporting a bandage on each palm, Burnett said he had no trouble playing long toss Sunday and the laceratio

<< Montanes takes Stuttgart crown
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain's Alberto Montanes won the Mercedes Cup on Sunday when Gael Monfils of France retired in the second set of the final because of an ankle injury. Montanes earned a 6-2, 1-2 triumph for hi

Yankees' Pettitte leaves Sunday's game >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was removed his Sunday start against the Tampa Bay Rays with a strained left groin. The veteran left-hander missed with a pitch to run the count to 3-1 on Kelly Sh

Astros' Oswalt leaves start in Pittsburgh >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt was removed from Sunday's game against the Pirates after four innings with a left ankle contusion. The right-hander was struck in the left ankle by a Pedro Alvarez

Power outruns Franchitti for Toronto win >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Will Power from Team Penske claimed his fourth victory of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season with an impressive performance in Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto. Power passed pole sitter Justin Wilson

Wake me up at St. Andrews >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - What? What? What? That's my general response when my dear wakes me up in the middle of the night. Be it a noise or my diesel-locomotive snoring, that's my canned response to her. It's roug

Kanepi upends Pennetta to claim Palermo title >>
Palermo, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Estonia's Kaia Kanepi knocked off top-seeded Flavia Pennetta to capture the Palermo International title. Kanepi, seeded fifth this week, notched a 6-4, 6-3 victory for her first career title. Her best

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.