Another sign LeBron is going to Miami: Deal nearly done to trade Michael Beasley

If you needed one more sure sign that LeBron James is going to sign with Miami, here it is -- the Heat are on the verge of trading Michael Beasley.

They need to move him to be able to give LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all max deal money. In fact, this trade would allow the Heat to give Bosh a sign-and-trade max deal -- six years and $127 million. Wade can have that same deal from the Heat. But could you have LeBron making less than those two? Still a lot of questions out there.

But the Heat are close to the deal, as it is popping up in various forms now. Here is one, from CBS’s Ken Berger:

The trade, which is still exploratory and not close to completion, would send Bosh to Miami, Michael Beasley to Charlotte and Tyson Chandler to Houston, the sources said. Toronto, already settled on taking back the 2011 first-round pick previously traded to the Heat, is trying to extract a player from the Rockets in addition to the trade exception it would get from Miami.

ESPN has reported a variation of this same trade. Something along these lines seems close.

The Heat have been trying desperately for weeks to find someone -- anyone -- who would take Beasley and his $5 million salary. It’s a sign of how far the respect for the former No. 2 overall pick has fallen that they couldn’t give him away.

But they apparently found a way.