MVN - Most Valuable Network

Heat can make one more big deal

The Miami Heat gave a valiant effort against the far superior Denver Nuggets, but it wasn’t enough, as they lost by one point in overtime. Still, that’s beside the point. Miami can still make a big splash before the trade deadline to bolster their roster for next season.

Right before the game, Dwyane Wade addressed the Miami Heat fans to thank them for voting him to the All-Star Game and found himself apologizing for the Heat’s dreaded season.

Then, he finished off saying: “It won’t last forever.”

No, Dwyane, it won’t. And if the Heat do what I have in mind, it will last a whole lot shorter.

I’m of the belief that Miami can make one more big deal this season before the trade deadline. But it needs to be done now, when the Heat still have the expiring contracts of Jason Williams and Ricky Davis.

I believe the Heat can get Jermaine O’Neal.

If they trade Williams, Davis, Udonis Haslem and this year’s second-round pick, don’t you think the Pacers would jump at that? They’re obviously in rebuilding mode and they want to move O’Neal’s contract. They’d get a solid power forward (at a much cheaper price) and the expiring contracts of Davis and Williams, which rebuilding teams love because they can get rid of a player with a big contract and start the next year well below the salary cap.

Plus, the Heat’s  second-round pick will be a high one, so that would be some extra incentive.

If Indiana doesn’t take the deal, what about New York? They’ve been wanting to move Zach Randolph, and I think this would be a good chance for them to do that.

The point is, there are a few premier big men out there that teams are dying to get rid of, and the Heat can jump on that this season without even giving up their first-round pick.

The game

I’m very worried the Heat are going to turn into the Phoenix Suns, and teams like that don’t win championships in this league. The Heat need a big man to shore up the paint and be a clincher with high-percentage shooting down the stretch.

That was evident when both teams scored a combined 127 points on Tuesday night.

Obviously, the Heat are going to take their losses the rest of this season. But I hope Riles isn’t thinking Miami is going to be completely up-tempo for the next few years. Honestly, if Michael Beasley is available for the Heat to draft, I wouldn’t even get him because that would mean Marion would play power forward and the Heat would just be a running team.

I admit, the Heat look exciting, refreshing and fun to watch. But that doesn’t win championships. If the Heat want another title, they need to go after a big man, and this is the time to do it.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 at 12:04 am and is filed under Game Recap. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.