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

I agree to an extent, but coming to that conclusion still doesn't make us a better team. We need to land Bosh and/or Amare. That is the bottom line. It is a MUST. I think Bosh has the right attitude in terms of possibly remaining in Toronto ... he seems very happy there, and if he would rather continue to build up there than come down here into a "quick fix" situation, then I can't really blame him. That's the same deal as Wade remaining here, somewhat.

That was before he had his sit down with the owner last night. His tone has changed a bit ... I think Amare likes playing in Phoenix. Sure, it'd be easier to make the move down to his home state, but he did mention that his kids are starting school in Phoenix and his family has grown comfortable there. We will see.

If I was a betting man, I'd bet that Amare opts out and makes the call to Riley before Riley even has the opportunity to reach out to Amare and his agent. But it's close. Before all of this trade talk, he mentioned that he was leaning toward opting in if he isn't extended before ... I originally thought this trade talk would kill him, but who knows what was said or even promised in that meeting betweem STAT and Sarver.

Rose / Noah / Deng / Cap Space >>>>> Beasley / Chalmers / Cook / Cap Space.

The big deal is Derrick Rose ... the guy who Wade wanted to play with in Miami instead of Beasley. Funny thing is, prior to the lottery Wade raved on and on and on about the possibility of playing with Rose. Even as a teammate, he's yet to rave about Michael Beasley. I honestly do not feel like Wade is a big fan of Beasley at all, and I actually hold that against him ... he's supposed to be helping Beasley, and I don't see it at all. Not much of a mentor.

Chicago is a GREAT situation in terms of attracting key free agents; they have three young starters already in place ... a superstar point guard in Derrick Rose, a walking double double and also one of the best defensive / shot blocking bigs in the league in Noah, and a solid small forward in Luol Deng. Rose is 21, Noah is 23, and Deng is 23. They also have the cap space to sign not only Dwyane Wade, but another max free agent. Imagine if Chicago reaches an agreement with Bosh, Amare, or Boozer first (I hate Boozer, but Wade courted him heavily last summer)? To be fair, let's go with Boozer, the worst player out of that group. Wade has a chance to join a hell of a starting 5:

- Rose
- Wade
- Deng
- Boozer
- Noah

Noah actually compliments Boozer well because he picks up for all of his faults.

 

Still think Wade stays ... again, I'm just saying. I want to be fair in discussing this.

 

We need to improve. That doesn't necessarily mean adding Bosh or Amare: after all, neither player has a title, so it's entirely possible to win without them.

Again, if Bosh would rather twiddle his thumbs in Toronto, he's not the guy we want.

Sounds to me like he's being professional.

I agree that there's uncertainty in the situation, but it's not quite a FedEx commercial yet.

And I got news for you, that Bulls team isn't winning a damn thing. They're just good enough to see the potential yet bad enough that they're never going to get anywhere.

If things are as you describe, then agreed: Wade is being silly in that regard. He shouldn't hold it against Beasley that he isn't Rose.

Mark my words, they will not win anything. They're further away from a title than Portland, and Portland is a phantom contender.

 

DWade sees Beasely everyday, if he doesn't like him it is for a good reason.

Imho folks underestimate just how competitive these guys are, sure they want the wealth, they also badly wish to win Championships, MJ was known to just destroy teammates he thought were not playing hard enough.

Haven't given up on this season as of yet though, but I really did not expect the Heat to make a move, despite Riley's "genius".

 

That's putting it lightly.

It's amazing how so many NBA teams seem to be barely treading water in terms of roster quality. Are there just not that many great basketball players left?

 

Hopefully that'll change, probably through eliminating the need to match salaries in a trade. The NBA is a giant desert with a couple of oases and Las Veg--I mean Los Angeles in the center.

 

The MIA / UTAH talk was a three way with PHX ... we were never looking to acquire Boozer ... Phoenix was down with it, but Utah said no last minute.

To Miami: Amare Stoudemire
To Phoenix: Carlos Boozer
To Utah: Udonis Haslem, Q-Rich, draft picks (MIA)

Damn!!! Now I'm more pissed off than I was earlier after learning that. **** you with an aids blah, Kevin O'Connor. What a deal. It's essentially picks for Amare, as I could see BOTH Haslem & Q signing here in the summer. The Wade / Amare / Beasley dream isn't crushed, but the audition is. And it almost happened. When we all thought there was no chance, Riley was still at it. I love Pat Riley. He deserves a purple heart. Do you guys realize that he went to 4-5 REPORTED teams that WE KNOW OF (Utah, Charlotte, Chicago, Houston, and I think I read one more) to try and get involved to land us Amare without parting ways with Beasley? God damn.

 

One of the things to keep in mind that by not surrendering Beasley or the picks we have 3 prime trade chips for either sign and trades or heretofore unknown trades for guys under contract that could happen.

Because we're so far under the cap we can simply trade a pick for a guy's salary. We could theoretically get a guy like Hinrich just for a pick, no need to match salaries. That's my only guess as to why Riley was so reluctant to part with two picks that I guarantee he doesn't give a crap about.

 

*Deleted after finding 1 million stats that proved my point to be incorrect.

 

I'd like to know this as well. I realize that NBA rosters are only 1/4 the size of NFL rosters, but there are a dizzying array of college basketball programs. You'd think there would be talent available left and right at every pick in the draft just due to sheer numbers of players available.

 

Exactly, there are first round picks that some teams just never bother to sign.

Why is that?

Imho it is just soo hard to get minutes in the NBA, take a cat like Brooks for the Rockets, or even Areneas when he was good for the Wiz, they just managed to get playing time and happened to hit a hot streak.

As for Riles not making a move, eventually the 2009 team is going to have find a way to play better, there is no help forthcoming, they have who they have, imho they should step up.

But sadly, this is the NBA, a league of tin men.

 

T-Wolves not are not making this easy, we started this quarter ****ty.

 

Who's our starting PG next year?

 

Went out. Missed the game. Admittedly called it a sure bet loss; didn't even check the score updates that are sitting right there on my Nexus One (plug, pay me Google) widgets. Came home to a pleasant surprise. You get 'em, SUPER COOL BEAS! Wade, don't come back for another week or two. I want to watch Beasley with the offense actually being ran through him.

Win or lose tomorrow, artist formerly known as @SuperCoolBeas is going to show David Hasselhoff, Jr. who is boss ... on his own floor. And it will be thrilling to watch. I hate you, Dirk. I hate you.

Raymond Felton (free agent), Steve Blake (free agent), Mike Conley (trade), or maybe even Armon Johnson (draft - Pat Riley flew to Nevada to watch him play).

Doubt we land a big time PG ... the top tier free agents are mostly forwards.

I would be surprised if our starting PG next season is currently on the roster. I'm hoping for Chalmers, because it'd mean mass improvement.

Before the season is up I want to see Chalmers get another shot. Alston plays great D, sure, but he's not giving much at all offensively. Think he's the perfect backup.

 

D-Whistle finally showing Beas some love via Twitter:

Nice to see.

 

So the basic answer is "Someone else." It's amazing how long it's taking to find someone to man this position for more than one season.

 

Chalmers is playing very well lately. Hopefully he turns it around. We haven't had a stable PG on this team since the Gay Basher ("I don't think they should be in locker room while we in locker room" - LMFAO!!!!!). Jason Williams is as close as it's gotten, which is pretty sad. A year ago most of us were sure Rio would be that guy, but he hit the rookie wall hard three quarters through last season and still hasn't made a recovery. Rookie Wall + Sophomore Slump = not pretty.

I see Beasley was in foul trouble last night ... only logged 31 minutes and didn't play too well statistically (missed the game again -- they need to stop with this weekend night game ****) and we were already without Wade and Alston. Still played a competitive game up in Dallas with the Mavs at full strength; I'll take it. Cook had a coming out part, though, it seems! JON and Rio put in work, too.

If the "supporting cast" keeps playing like this and Beasley doesn't back down once Wade gets back, then this team will be looking to make a late playoff push for that fifth seed. I've been really impressed lately.

 

At least it was an entertaining game, I think we'll pick up where we left off before the loss.

 

What does Chalmers need to improve on?

 

This... and he also needs to learn how to be a bit more consistent and give more effort. I've seen a ton of lackluster performances where it seems like he simply wasn't giving any effort, only to log onto Twitter later on that night and see Rio promoting parties that he's hosting on South Beach. If he wants to be a starting PG for this franchise, things like that must be cut out unless he's going to perform. See, Wade parties hard during the season... I don't have as big a deal with it because it usually doesn't effect his game. I've read about Chalmers showing up late to meetings and practices because of this. That's my main issue with him; I think he's actually more immature than Michael Beasley despite age.

 

I know, I know. Let it die. It was a week ago. But I the Herald is wrong again... doubt it, though, as it's coming from Barry Jackson:

Please tell me that we didn't land Amare because we refused to give up two mid first round selections.

BUT!

Remember when we first entered the Amare trade rumors and Butler/Haywood were still with Washington? I TOLD YOU GUYS THAT RILEY WOULD INQUIRE AS A SECOND TRADE FOLLOW UP TO AMARE!

Pat Riley, you're good, but I know you by the book.

That Washington deal would have simply been for O'Neal's expiring. What could have been... Wade, Amare, Butler, Beasley, Haywood, etc. OH-EM-GEE!

PG issues or not that team wins the East this year. No doubt.

 

Tom Crean? That would definitely be interesting. He was rumored to be inked to replacing Pat Riley before Erik Spoelstra was 100% locked in.

He should have stayed at Marquette, though. Big mistake jumping over to Indiana.

 

That word is way out in left field. No way Crean leaves IU. He makes more here than he would as an assistant and he's royalty here.

 

More then that . he just signed a multi million dollar deal. Plus endorsements, etc.

 

Wade's latest tweet.

So I guess he's out of chuck's fave 5?

 

Why on earth is Arroyo still in front of Chalmers in the rotation? That is ******ed.

 

If Wade sits out the rest of the season (won't happen, just saying...) this team would have a legit shot at scoring enough ping pongs to land John Wall or Evan Turner. My goodness. If you take any superstar away from any team, quite possibly in the history of the NBA, you won't find a worse team than the 2009-2010 Miami Heat without Dwyane Wade. How the **** do you lose to the T'Wolves at home on a night where Al Jefferson is non existent?

Sometimes this team makes me feel alright... most of the time I really, really wish they'd completely miss the playoffs and get into the lottery.

 

Sun Sports Stat:

Heat have the ninth best home record in the Eastern Conference... you've got to be kidding me.