MIAMI, July 5 The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed center Joel Anthony, guard Jeremy Richardson and forward Marcus Slaughter. Per team policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Anthony (6-9, 240-pounds), appeared in 68 games (nine starts) in two seasons for the University of Nevada (Las Vegas) after transferring from Pensacola Junior College. During his senior season, Anthony appeared in 37 games (six starts) for UNLV and averaged 5.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 blocks while shooting 59.7 percent from the field. He was named as the Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year after setting an MWC record for most blocks in a game with 13 vs. TCU on Feb. 6, 2007. Anthony finished his collegiate career second in school history for total blocks during a single-season with 109.
Richardson (6-7, 190-pounds), appeared in six NBA regular season games, five with the Atlanta Hawks and one with the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2006-07 campaign, and averaged 1.3 points, 0.3 rebounds, 0.17 steals and 3.7 minutes while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range. During his stint in the NBA Development League, Richardson appeared in 33 games (30 starts) for the Fort Worth Flyers after being drafted with the ninth pick of the second round in the 2006 NBA Development League Draft and averaged 17.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 30.8 minutes while shooting 45.8 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from three-point range and 81.9 percent from the foul line. While at Delta State University during his senior and junior seasons, after transferring from Copiah-Lincoln Community College, he appeared in 61 games (60 starts) for the Statesmen and averaged 16.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.15 steals. Richardson finished fifth all-time in school history in three-point field goals made (120) and ranks 14th on the all-time scoring list with 1,001 points.
Slaughter (6-8, 223-pounds), appeared in 29 games with Pinar Karsiyaka SK Izmir of the Turkish League during the 2006-07 season and averaged 13.3 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.30 steals and 1.3 assists while shooting 51.6 percent from the field. Slaughter was named to the Eurobasket.com Turkish League All-Defensive Team and to the Eurobasket.com Turkish League Second Team. After being selected to play in the Turkish League All-Star Game, Slaughter was named as the All-Star Game MVP after posting 18 points, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 17 minutes while shooting 9-of-10 from the field. Marcus also placed second in the Turkish League All-Star Game dunk contest. After three seasons at San Diego State University, Slaughter went un-drafted after becoming an early entry candidate in the 2006 NBA Draft. In his collegiate career, he appeared in 87 games (74 starts) and averaged 13.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.23 steals while shooting 47.7 percent from the field. Slaughter finished third all-time in school history in rebounds (775), sixth all-time in school history in blocks (78) and 10th as the Aztecs all-time scoring leader (1,211).