Of course he had a choice, and he already had a foot in the door with ESPN. He's just preventing that door from getting slammed in his face.
And what's with there being two beat reporters from ESPN covering the Heat? What happens to Windy if ESPN decides to reduce their coverage and cut one of them?
Plus he's still a beat reporter - not a columnist, not a talking head, etc. This should keep the door open for him to continue to publish NBA main page articles perhaps become a columnist/pundit, but will it earn him more face time on the network let alone an eventual TV gig? Most reporters get tired of following the beat and want to move on at some point. Will ESPN give him that opportunity?
The move keeps him in "the game", makes him relevant nationally, but let's be clear ... this was a choice where Windy could have stuck by his supporters and continued to build his career in Cleveland - just like Terry Pluto has done. There's nothing wrong with that either.