What to make of the Heat adding Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger

Perhaps it's a sign that the Heat are coming out of their holding pattern and know what will unfold this week in regards to LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony. Perhaps it's a sign that Pat Riley, like the rest of us, doesn't have a clue about what will unfold in the coming days and just wanted to get down to business. Either way, while the basketball world waits on the decisions of James and co., Miami was busy agreeing to deals with Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger on Monday.

It's hard to accurately assess Miami's day on the free agent market without an indication of what The Big Three and other big names will do, but we can judge the deals individually.

In agreeing to a four-year, $23 million contract with McRoberts, the Heat have landed one of the better under the radar free agents of the summer. McRoberts' shooting and passing - his 66.8 passes per game ranked 8th in the NBA in 2013-14 - from the power forward spot were integral to Charlotte's improvement this past season, and considering some of the money handed out to lesser players last week, an average annual cap hit of $5.75 million for the 27-year-old is solid value for the Heat.

McRoberts won't contribute much defensively, but he at least works hard on that end, and he should fit in nicely on the offensive side given his propensity to share the ball and his shooting ability - 36 percent on 291 three-point attempts in 2013-14. If the Heat can keep James, Bosh and Wade together on South Beach while adding McRoberts and Shabazz Napier, whom they acquired on Draft night, then their plan to provide the Big Three with an improved supporting cast would be off to a good start.

Of course, there are still so many moving parts and unanswered questions, and if Bosh accepts Houston's reported lucrative offer and McRoberts is then expected to replace some of Bosh's production, the Heat would be in trouble. If Bosh and James both hit the road, leaving an aging Wade to carry a subpar team, the results could be disastrous. McRoberts and Napier (and Norris Cole) could be nice fourth and fifth options, respectively, but them being great role players is reliant on the Heat retaining great star players at the top of their roster.

And then there's the Granger deal, which quite frankly doesn't make much sense for the Heat. Sure, it's only a two-year, $4.2 contract for a former All-Star, but the 31-year-old Granger has appeared in only 46 games over the last two seasons, shooting 36 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point territory while registering a two-year Player Efficiency Rating of 10.3. Anything more than the veteran's minimum for one year is probably an overpay for Granger's limited services these days, but the Heat gave him the equivalent of their bi-annual exception and added a player option in Year Two to boot.

And that's another subplot to the Heat's dealings today. If a team utilizes any one of the mid-level exception, the bi-annual exception or a sign-and-trade, then the luxury tax apron - a figure $4 million above the luxury tax line - becomes a hard cap for that team. If the Heat are using the mid-level on McRoberts and/or the bi-annual on Granger, which it certainly seems like they are, then they will face a hard cap of $81 million this season. That means Miami cannot exceed that figure for any reason - not for signing veteran minimum players, not for replacing an injured player, nothing.

If that ends up being the case, why the Heat would even want to waste a precious penny of that space on Granger is puzzling, although it is possible James himself was in favor of the deal from the background.

In any event, even with the overpayment of Granger included, if the Heat keep the band together with McRoberts serving as the beginning of a better supporting cast for their stars, today will be remembered fondly by Miami's supporters.

But if Houston's offer to Bosh and the league-wide pursuit of James is only the beginning of the end for the Big Three Era in Miami, then the day Pat Riley landed Josh McRoberts and over-the-hill Danny Granger (and maybe Garrett Temple!) while waiting on LeBron may be remembered as a sad, somewhat pathetic one in Heat history.