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Wright, Barron to Flame

January 10, 2006 - NBA G League (G League)
Florida Flame News Release


FORT MYERS, Fla., January 3 - Miami Heat President Pat Riley announced the team has assigned guard/forward Dorell Wright and center Earl Barron to the Florida Flame of the NBA Development League. The Flame has been assigned as the Heat's D-League affiliate for the 2005-06 campaign.

Wright, a 6-8, 190-pound guard/forward was originally selected by the Heat in the first round (19th overall) of the 2004 NBA Draft. Wright has appeared in a total of 11 NBA games during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, averaging 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 32% from the floor and 4-4 from the foul line.

The 20 year-old from Los Angeles, Calif. has appeared in eight games with Miami in 2005-06, averaging 1.6 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per game, while shooting 35.7% from the field and 3-3 from the foul line. Wright posted season-high 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal versus the Toronto Raptors on November 20, 2005. During the 2004-05 campaign, Wright appeared in three games with the Heat, averaging 2.3 points and 1.3 steals per contest.

Wright attended South Kent Prep in Connecticut during his senior year of high school and was named the top prep school player in the nation by Basketball Times in 2003-04, averaging 29.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 5.0 blocks per game. He tallied a season-high 53 points and 20 rebounds versus Lafayette during the regular season and posted a game-high 24 points in the 2004 Jordan Capital Classic on April 17, 2004.

Barron, a 7-0, 245-pound center has appeared in three games with the Heat in 2005-06, averaging 0.7 pts and 0.7 rebounds in 1.7 minutes per game. Signed by the Heat as a free agent on Aug. 8, 2005, Barron started all seven games for the Heat's 2005 Summer League entry in the Southern California Summer Pro League, averaging 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks while shooting 65% from the field and 83.7% from the foul line.

A veteran of the NBA Development League, Barron appeared in 55 D-League games with the Huntsville Flight in 2003-04 and 2004-05, averaging 11.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Last season, Barron earned All-NBA Development League Honorable Mention honors with Huntsville. He appeared in 45 games for the Flight, making 23 starts and averaged 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds per contest while shooting 50% from the field and 81% from the free throw line. Barron ranked among D-League leaders in free throw percentage (9th), field goal percentage (13th), and scoring average (17th). He began the 2004-05 season with Red Bull Barako of the Phillipine Basketball Association, averaging 26.9 points and 15.4 rebounds per game.

In 2003-04, Barron appeared in 10 D-League games for Huntsville, averaging 8.0 points, 6.1 rebounds while shooting 54% from the floor after beginning the season overseas with Tuborg Pilsener of the Turkish League, where he averaged 9.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.

"We're always excited to get quality basketball players from the NBA," said Florida Flame Head Coach Jeff Malone. "I'm looking forward to working with Dorell and Earl to help them develop and improve as players so that they can get back to the league. I'm also happy to be working with the Miami Heat organization through our affiliation. I have a great amount of respect for Pat Riley and Randy Pfund from my days as a player with the Heat, so working with them should be a great experience."

The Florida Flame is the official D-League affiliate of the NBA's Miami Heat, Minnesota Timberwolves, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic. Showcasing the best young talent in professional basketball outside of the NBA, the Flame play a 48-game schedule during the 2005-06 season with 23 home games at Germain Arena. Led by a group of local investors, the Flame is now in its second season of providing affordable, family entertainment to sports fans throughout Southwest Florida.

The NBA Development League includes the Albuquerque Thunderbirds (N.M.), Arkansas RimRockers (Little Rock), Austin Toros (Texas), Fayetteville Patriots (N.C.), Florida Flame (Ft. Myers), Fort Worth Flyers (Texas), Roanoke Dazzle (Va.) and Tulsa 66ers (Okla.).

Designed to help grow the sport of basketball both domestically and internationally, the league also offers fun, family entertainment at affordable prices. The D-League is a source of on-court talent for the NBA's 30 teams and is a diverse human resources pool for the NBA and its teams by training employees in management, operations, public relations, sales and marketing positions.

For additional information, please visit floridaflame.com or contact Florida Flame Director of Media Relations, Tim Becwar at (239) 561-8130 and tbecwar@floridaflame.com. For additional information on the NBA Development League please visit NBADLEAGUE.com.

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