The Official Miami Heat 09/10 Countdown to Contention Thread.

And here come the dark horses... Miami in hot pursuit of Amare:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=4917483

 

Cleveland, to their credit, has set aside so many secondary options. I credit Danny Ferry. He's got potential deals in place for Antwan Jamison, Troy Murphy, and now onto Corey Maggette as well. If Cleveland fails to land Amare, they will likely still get a pretty solid player to push them closer to the top, if they're not already there.

I just want Amare at this stage, and I don't really want to make a second deal. I want Amare and Amare only, let's take a second or third round exit in the playoffs this year, and prepare to get our third guy via free agency in the summer. Not too interested in what's out there right now aside from Amare. There are reports that Miami is interested in Antawn Jamison, and now we know why... if we're able to land Amare for a Beasley / Q / Jones / picks package, then the option to move JON's expiring deal for Jamison comes into play. I wouldn't do it, though. Jamison would be a great third option, but he's 33-years old. I'd prefer something younger if we're going to kill the 2010 plan or come close to it. Jamison, however, is another Antoine Walker -- not in the sense of his play, but in how enamored Pat Riley is with him. He's always had an interest in Jamison, much like the interest in Toine years and years before acquiring him.

How confident would you guys be in a Wade / Amare / Jamison trio?

I'm not a very big fan of Antawn Jamison, his age, or his contract... but he can play. That's no secret. We'd probably be able to snag Mike Miller in any deal for Jamison as well.

G - Alston / Chalmers / Arroyo
G - Wade / Wright
F - Miller / Wright / Diawara
F - Jamison / Haslem
C - Amare / Anthony / Magloire

Um, I'll respectfully pass on Antawn Jamison without hesitation.

EDIT: Here's a link to the Jamison / Miami rumor:

From the Washington Post, cited by RealGM: http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64709/20100215/heat_showing_interest_in_jamison/

 

Another possibility is that if a 3-way takes place, Beasley may not even be included. We may be able to find a deal with one of those many teams interested in Haslem that would be willing to send a nice young prospect and expiring contract back Phoenix's way. I wonder how interested Phoenix would be in Big Baby and Ray Allen's expiring deal. We know Boston is interested in Haslem, and maybe, just maybe, they'd be willing to take Jason Richardson.

 

Varejo's contract realy, really sucks.

 

Hmm, iirc, the Cavs have went into the luxury tax already but I "think" they will end up clearing a ton of payroll this offseason, but that is an overlooked thing.

Most of NBA info comes from Cowherd and it's not particularly in depth when it comes to the Salary Cap.

I'm glad the vid was posted of Wade hoisting the MVP trophy was shown and Lebron's envy was plain for everyone to see, that is one of the basises of my theory that the Heat had best make some improvements...this year...or DWade will walk to where he feels he can win again consistently.

Not every decision comes down to dollars, not even in the NBA.

 

I follow the NBA and I've never heard of these guys.

 

I hope you're kidding.

 

you guys do NOT want sergio rodriguez.

 

I think Riley tried to get Mason a couple of years ago

 

Maybe Riley came into the locker room and said he had a great trade package deal with OKC for Kevin Durant.

Scared straight, if you will.

 

That would scare even Dwyane Wade, because it would mean he's on the trading block.

 

Sergio Rodriguez sucks. He's terrible. Looking at his numbers, one would question why he doesn't get more PT. I've seen him play a bit back when he was in Portland, and I can answer that question fairly simple: defensively, he's the greatest nightmare of all time. If you thought Chris Quinn was bad...

Blatche would be a solid pickup likely at the expense of Udonis Haslem and a draft pick or young player, and could come with Mike Miller. I'd swing a Haslem for Blatche / Miller deal. Don't see Washington going for it, though, they are rumored to be interested in UD. I don't know about his availability, though, especially with Haywood gone. His productivity shoot skyrocket. He's a future 15/8 type of guy who can block shots with the best of 'em. Needs to learn how to properly position himself and time his rebounds and he's good to start. For a guy with his size and athletic ability, his lack of work on the boards is unacceptable.

Mason can shoot the lights out, and he's expiring at the end of the season. Riley went hard after him a few years ago in free agency. He also recently asked for a trade out of San Antonio. At $3-4 million per season, I don't know what we could offer in similar contract, but I'd love to have him. I'd look into re-signing him for similar money in the summer. Even if we don't land him, he'd be a great pickup in the summer to fill up the bench... there's every championship team's designated shooter.

Don't overstate Miami's "interest" in any names that pop up over the next two days, though. A lot of this "interest" could be Phoenix (three way deal). I'm thinking Andray Blatche in that sense.

 

anybody catch eric reid rooting for the heat to play d on the final possession? i thought that was cool. seriously, if wade continues to play his position as 1 more than a 2, and the defense stays this solid, i like where this team is going. also, i like jo with the second unit going into the second quarter.

 

Good stuff Sec, thanks.

I think one of the reasons that PHX is considering the cleveland deal, which is a joke basketball wise, is that it gets Sarver under the luxury tax this year because of Big z's contract. With our deal, espescially one that includes JO, they would still be a tax team.

I think riley is working hard to find a thrid team who will take Richardson. That would get PHX under the tax. Of course, this would also require us to surrender more assets meaning we absolutely need follow up trades already in place to fill the roster.

 

It's a game of chicken. The only reason for a "suns executive" to talk to Chad ford is to put it out there that they want the Heat's picks, I don't even think its Beasley so much. They're also subtley telling Cleveland that their offer can be beat easily so they might want to offer more.

Riley is in an interesting spot here. We can sit tight and do nothing if push comes to shove, but it would be tough to watch Amare land with Cleveland. On the other hand Kerr is left out to dry by his owner. They have to trade Amare at this point, even though they are a good team, and he is choosing between two crappy offers. He really needs to wait until the last second to try and get more but if Cleveland moves on he's stuck holding his schmeckel

 

This is an extremely interesting game of chess. I am a Cavs fans and the most up-to-date rumors say we have the paperwork done for Jamison and are giving the Suns a deadline before we go pull the trigger on that deal.

Isn't this a huge risk for the Heat because if LeBron gets STAT, there is little chance of EITHER becoming free agents this year - which would put a huge dent in the available FAs you would be targeting?

 

Say 2 MAX Free agents a couple of times..

Ryan Risillo was running the 2-4 show on ESPN today and he floated the idea "the Suns need those draft picks because the players they get for Amare won't be that great"

Which is kinda dumb if true, Dwade and Amare, or Lebron and Amare...those picks will be in the 20's to high 20's, that idea makes -0- sense.

 

I think they would rather have a 1st rd pick plus cap space to sign FAs this offseason as opposed to no 1st rd picks and less space to sign FAs. In both cases they don't have Amare, so I think it makes plenty of sense.

 

Nope, they have nothing to build around in Phoenix and a mid 20's draft pick won't help either, moving Amare S out of Phoenix is just a cust cutting move and nothing else unless they land Beasely or Hickson.

 

Miami won't move up that high just by acquiring STAT... this season. This is a 27-27 team. I think even with STAT we finish in the late teens, MAYBE early 20s if we can swing another deal. From everything I've read and have been told, Phoenix is not too high on Hickson although they do like him. They do not like or want Beasley AT ALL. They'd only consider acquiring him as a future trade chip. Andre Iguodola is THE GUY they want. Good for Miami, we have two first round picks next year currently slotted at 16 and 18. Cleveland has one, and it will likely be around pick 30.

Steve Kerr values draft choices a lot higher than most GM's. Ironically, the only GM that puts a higher value on draft picks might be Danny Ferry, which is also good for Miami.

 

Couple of things:

1.) We passed on a deal for Roger Mason for a 2nd round pick and trade exception. Puzzling, really, especially if we're to move multiple forwards in an Amare deal. His contract ends after this season, so I don't see why not make the move. Pat Riley DOES NOT value 2nd round picks and we're always loaded with them. Mason makes us better. Not significantly, but he makes a difference. He also makes Q, Cook, and Wright more expandable than they currently are.

2.) Speaking of Amare, there is a rumor going around that Cleveland has completed a deal for Jamison. If this goes through, Amare is ours... and it won't cost us Beasley. Maybe not even Haslem. This is too awesome. Pray for an official announcement on CLE / WASH soon. The only thing that could then keep Amare away from us is Philly coming in last minute and offering Iggy -- don't see that happening, but I could see a second deal for Miami that lands Iggy / Dalembert here. That is a SERIOUS rumor that has been discussed.

3.) John Salmons has been informed by the Bulls that he has been traded. No info on anything else yet. If Salmons goes, I'm guessing Hinrich goes with him... this could be the Lakers... it could be the Heat, Sixers, or Cavs in a three way deal with Phoenix... or it could be something else. All I know is that Riley has expressed interest in both Hinrich and Salmons in the past.

 

It's official... Cavs trade Big Z / 1st round pick to Washington for Jamison. Drew Gooden may also be involved in the deal via third party.

Cleveland now cannot match salary (with an expiring contract) to acquire Amare. We've officially moved up to "the favorite"

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/64795/20100217/cavs_make_deal_for_jamison/

 

EDIT: My bad. This post contained message board rumor garbage without any sources.

 

Still think Amare stays in Phoenix. I'm fine with that. After all of this madness, he's definitely going to opt out. We also now know FOR SURE that his preference as far as any team in the league is concerned, is Miami. Go after Bosh, fail, sign Amare for nothing. Every media outlet out there has reported that we are his preference. So out of all of this, if nothing comes from it, that's one victory; we know one superstar big free agent who wants to be here for sure.

Only thing that keeps me into it:

- Amare has publicly called out Miami has his preference.
- Amare and his agent both stated earlier in the day that they feel as though tonight's game @Dallas will be his last as a Sun.
- Shortly after, Cleveland makes a deal and drops out of the runnings. They were considered the favorite.
- We're hearing absolutely NOTHING from Miami's end. It's entirely too quiet. Something is going on. Whether it amounts to anything or not is your guess or mine.

 

Amar'e Stoudemire's agent expects Suns to make trade

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/2010/02/17/20100217-amare-stoudemire-agent-trade.html

 

That report is from earlier in the day before Cleveland (the front runner) backed out and opted for Jamison instead. I don't think Amare is going anywhere. Riley isn't offering Beasley after all.

Not that it really matters, but at least we know for fact that nothing is imminent at the moment... Beasley and Q in the starting line up. Cook, Chalmers, Wright, Haslem all suited up.

 

Chad Ford speaks! I'm not going to bed tonight.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/13440/now-what-for-amare

Neither pick will be lotto, Riles, do it.

This is what I like a lot:

Amare will be a Heat... whether tonight, tomorrow afternoon, or in July.

 

Do you think Riley could offer both first round picks? and do you think the Suns will buy it?

EDIT: I guess you just answered that above haha

 

Lol, knowing Riley... he'd like to keep one for a potential follow up deal, or sign-and-trade in the summer. But let's be real, we're talking about acquiring Amare Stoudemire without giving up Dwyane Wade or Michael Beasley. Hell, we may even be able to keep Haslem and JON if that rumored low ball offer is where we stand. That's amazing. You definitely part with the picks!



Trio of Wade, Amare, and Beasley will compete in the East this year, while IMO, still falling a piece too short. Doubt it happens still, but that's just my no jinx mindset talking... Come on, Riles!

 

Is JON hurt or did he get pulled? Wasn't watching, but I see that he's logged 2 minutes in the first quarter and does not have a foul.

 

JON hurt his back and Wade is out for the game with a strained calf.

Start the rumors up now... JON / Wade being packaged. (joking)

We can't lose to the Nets after how well we've been playing. Go for 50, Beas. I don't think he's got a 30 point night on his resume yet, maybe one. It's time.

 

I had read that they really didn't want to give up on Hickson and that's why they opted for Jamison. That and Jamison is the "stretch" 4 while Stoudemire isn't.


I hope Miami gets Amare though.