Miami Heat Road To The Lottery Thread

Marion's expiring contract is very enticing....

 

The whole point of an expiring contract is to create cap room to use on a top of the line free agent. Problem is, they're not going to do much better than to keep Elton Brand.

 

I should add that because they're the Clippers, I would never rule out the possibility that they would do something as stupid as trade Elton Brand after Brand just recruited Baron Davis to come for a below-market contract. It's just that it would be insanely stupid unless someone absolutely blew them away with an offer. And "Shawn Marion plus Udonis Haslem" is NOT a blowaway offer.

 

Sounds like bs to me.

 

I agree. I still think that you will see Brand in a Clippers uniform. The only thing that I could see happening is if Brand was to go to the 76ers who reportedly are interested in him and are planning an offer. The Sixers have a lot of cap room and a bunch of young talent. They are also in the East. Brand could see that as a good opportunity for the playoffs. The problem is that Chris Broussard of ESPN has stated that Brand doesn't want to go to a young team like the 76ers and Warriors. If that's true, then go sign with the Clippers!

 

If he left LA for 5 mill he'll immediately become my most hated player lol

 

Lol, I wouldn't blame you. I still don't understand why he is taking so long to decide between Warriors and Clippers. The Clippers are the better team as of now, especially with the Warriors losing Baron Davis (to the Clippers) and Monta Ellis' situation up in the air. Yeah he would get $15 million more from the Warriors but you told your original team that if they signed Davis, he would take less money to come back.

My guess is that he is waiting to see what the Sixers offer.

 

It's 30 days.

 

Dooling played here once before didnt he? No thanks on him. O'Bryant is an interesting talent.

 

Riley is going to do everything in his power to make Wade happy, thats for sure.

 

I wouldnt mind having Dooling back. Hes no starter, but he brings energy off the bench which this team lacked last year.

 

Welcome to the NBA kid.

 

Fixed. You can't touch the players anymore.

 

Monta Ellis at 10 mil per

added to what we have in Wade and Beasley...still allows us to go into the market in 2009 and thus...

CHAM..PION....SHIP...

Ellis
Wade
WHOEVER..it could be me at SF
Beasley
Okafur

With some tinkering on the bench.

That is a championship team.

 

I agree. You could trade Marion and say Marcus Banks in a sign-and-trade deal for Ellis. The Warriors are exploring the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal (not with the Heat, in general). However, there have been a couple journalists that have brought up Marion's name in a deal like that to GS.

I would say there's a slim chance that the Heat acquire Okafor. He and the Bobcats are talking long-term right now and if those talks break down, he will sign a one year offer. If they were to sign him, my thinking is next off-season but you never know.

 

I wonder how Ellis fairs at Point Guard. If he remains at GS, he will be the PG. Would he be like Tony Parker? Drive, Drive and then dish?

 

I know that I can't remember when there was a better backcourt in the NBA with a (hypothetical) Ellis and Wade.

I mentioned Okafur because we would then enter the market next year with the type of money to pay a guy like him...He would be the perfect fit.

What i suggested is basically the absolute PERFECT scenario. We would be talking championship around here..for a very long time.

 

Who's distributing the ball? You've got two undersized shooting guards in the backcourt.

 

Wade undersized? He is 6-4 and pushing 215 to 220 pounds muscle. Ellis is 6-3. That would give us a pretty decent sized back court, and the talent level would be the best in the league. Makes Billups/Hamilton look like Edwards/ Shaw. Ellis looked damn good playing the point last year.

 

Ellis and Wade are a disaster in waiting. Unless you get a point forward.

 

6'4 is small for a 2 guard. His thickness makes him less undersized, admittedly, but it's a position where the average player weighs about the same, and is a good 2 to 3 inches taller.

If Monta Ellis is a point guard, I'm a Buddhist monk. Make no mistake, he's a shooting guard, not a point. If you average 3.7 assists per 36 minutes, and have an assist-turnover ratio of 1.85 to 1, you're not a good ball distributor. The Heat would have a backcourt of two guys who shoot first and pass second. If they had a legit point forward at the three, maybe they could get by with that, but I think the offense would degenerate into way too many one-on-one situations. As a side note, he does nothing to address Miami's need for an outside shooter.

I never, EVER thought I'd say this, but you know who would be a good fit in the backcourt with Wade? Vince Carter. Hear me out before you start dropping F bombs in my direction. Carter needs to be a second or third option on offense. No problem there, on a team with Wade and Beasley. He's a very adept outside shooter (good thing, since he's such a softie), and he's become, to my absolute shock, a very good passer. His 25% assist rate is actually pretty good and would be respectable for a point guard, and his A/TO ratio is pretty fair (better than Ellis'). He can be had pretty much for a song at this point, and who knows, maybe some of Wade's aggressiveness would rub off on him. If you're going to forgo a true point guard, as in your example, you could do much worse than to offer the Nets Mark Blount, Marcus Banks and some sort of lottery-protected #1 for Carter.

 

Want to hear what Beasley has to say about his start to the NBA on a daily basis? Read it here.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3471962

 

Good point. I spoke before double-checking Wade's stats, and his assist rate was MUCH higher than I thought it was. My bad. However, my larger point still stands, unless they intend to have Wade run the point full time, which I'm not sure they do.

 

I'll double check it. Sorry.

EDIT: It was working yesterday and now it just states its an invalid ID. That's a error by ESPN. As soon as it is fixed, I'll get it to you guys.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?categoryId=3459272

There is that above, its a link to Beasley's moments leading up to the NBA draft and his process to it. Theres four episodes which are listed on the right.