Chris Bosh was close to leaving the Miami Heat for the Houston Rockets before ultimately deciding to re-sign on a five-year, $118 million contract.

"It was close. I'm not going to lie," Bosh said on "The Zaslow and Joy Show" on FM 104.3 The Ticket in Miami. "It was close. It was a weird situation because we were waiting so long and I didn't know what was going on.

Chris Bosh officially signed his new five-year contract with the Miami Heat several weeks after it was formally agreed upon.

Bosh's contract is worth $118.7 million over five seasons.

Bosh decided to remain with the Heat amid a four-year max contract offer from the Houston Rockets.

Pat Riley never dissuaded from the belief that LeBron James would return to the Miami Heat in free agency, even when the two met in Las Vegas before James announced his decision to join the Cleveland Cavaliers.

''I went into it with the thought and the notion that he was coming back," Riley said, "and I was selling that to players, I believed that firmly, so I was selling that to players. And that's the only way I went into it. I let him know that. He never said to me, 'No, don't do that.' ''

"I don't think I was misled. But I don't think I was encouraged either. That's business."

Riley said he did not hear from James during the free agent process.

"I sent him a lot of emails and texts," Riley said. "I was communicating a lot with him. No response."

Riley then turned his focus to making the Heat a contending team.

"There wasn't anything in that meeting that told me that wasn't going to happen," Riley said of the anticipated return by James. "I've moved on quickly from that, 'We are going to build another championship team and that's it.'

"This business, as we find it, is tough. Sometimes you have those tough calls and sometimes things happen to you that you don't like but you’ve got to move on.

"The process didn't take anything out of me other than this one notion: You have a chance to build a generational team. . . . That chain has been broken prematurely. We are going to try to make it another generational team. That's what my objective is."

Michael Beasley worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers in El Segundo on Wednesday.

Beasley is a free agent after playing last season with the Miami Heat.

The Miami Heat will host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas Day in his first game playing against his former team.

An unofficial internal schedule of select games has Cleveland playing the Heat in Miami on Christmas on ABC, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The game likely would be played at either 2:30 p.m. or 5 p.m, depending on what other game is selected for ABC that day.

The Miami Heat have three remaining roster spots and have been non-committal with Michael Beasley and Greg Oden.

The Heat cannot offer more than the veteran minimum to any remaining free agents.

Jared Karnes, Beasley’s agent, said Thursday he has had more than one conversation with the Heat but “nothing has resulted in a deal. [Other] teams have called expressing interest. There has been quite a bit of activity the past four days. Teams are encouraged by his career-best field-goal percentage (49.9) … and his attitude when asked to play a reduced role.”

Beasley has been working out with Kevin Durant in Los Angeles this summer.

Miami has not informed Oden's agent, Mike Conley Sr., if the team wants him back. 

“They said they’ll get back to us,” Conley said. “A couple of teams have inquired. He wants to be able to play.”

Chris Singleton has received interest from the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers.

Singleton was the 18th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards and is a free agent.

Singleton played in just 25 games (250 minutes) this past season after the Wizards declined their fourth-year option on his contract. Singleton had a "Jones fracture" before the season began.

The Utah Jazz have expressed interest in signing Toure' Murry, according to a source.

Murry is reportedly also waiting to see whether a deal will form with the Miami Heat.

Murry played for the New York Knicks last season.

The Miami Heat have agreed upon a two-year, $5.5 million deal with Udonis Haslem.

Haslem had opted out of a contract that was scheduled to pay him $4.6 million this season.

The Heat were able to restructure their roster by giving Haslem a new deal.

The Miami Heat and Udonis Haslem have agred upon a $2.7 millon deal using their space exception.

Haslem has spent his entire career with the Heat and opted out of his contract his summer.