Strickland decided that he would head to South Beach to play with center Alonzo Mourning and for coach Pat Riley instead of with a friend in Allen Iverson and for a former coach in Larry Brown. The decision was tough, preceded by waffling. But, ultimately, Strickland made the right call.

"He's agreed to go and play for Miami," his agent, Leon Rose, said yesterday. "The decision was tremendously tough for him, but the bottom line was two key factors. One was the numbers in Philadelphia. Once everyone gets healthy, the situation didn't favor Rod. The other reason is that Miami is just a really good situation for him.