In order to retain their own Bird rights, James and Bosh both chose to join the Heat through a sign-and-trade, for which the Heat sent out a number of first-round draft picks.
Meanwhile, in order to keep Haslem, with Haslem agreeing to take a pay cut, The Big Three all took salary reductions, finally signing a six-year contract worth 1.1 billion with the Heat (with a player option starting from the fourth year).
At the same time, they signed Mike Miller with the mid-level exception in the free agency market, and also signed veterans like Ilgauskas, Juwan Howard, Jerry Stackhouse, and Eric Dampier.
At this point, what Hansen knew of Heat's Three Giants had officially taken shape.
On paper, this Heat team was a notch stronger than last season's Cavaliers, it's hard to know how they could lose.
Grizzlies also saw some signings in the free-agent market.
