MVN - Most Valuable Network

‘In The Grasp’: Can The New Miami Heat Work Old Magic?

Most NBA insiders felt that the Miami Heat had the best draft of any team in the league. With months to go until the regular season, we take a look at what could be.

The Miami Heat landed what was arguably two of the best talents in this years NBA Draft.

In Michael Beasley you have easily the most talented athlete from an overall standpoint, and in ’Super’ Mario Chalmers, you have a prototypical Pat Riley player who is in some ways above average offensively, but more importantly, knows how to excel strongly from a defensive standpoint. 

It’s pretty hard to tell exactly what the Miami Heat’s starting roster will look like when the season kicks off but when you look around at the youth and athleticism, it can’t be anything less than inspiring.

Pat Riley has made it clear….Anything less than a postseason run will be disappointing. And exactly what does he plan to do to help turn things around? Well, according to various team insiders, use the free agent market to land the last of a few final pieces to the puzzle and make this team an instant contender.

The Marion-for-Odom trade is still being discussed, as well as a few others. No one quite knows which deal Riley will pull the trigger on but he has made it abundantly clear that it’ll be something that makes the team instantly better.

With no such deal on the table as of yet, we briefly look at the impact of those we know will be on the roster:

Guard Position: Among the Guards that are pretty much locked in for the regular season, we know that SG phenom Dwyane Wade (barring any injuries) will be front and centered, leading the team like he’s always done. At the Point Guard position you have to reasonably expect (barring any trades) to see Chris Quinn return. The interesting thing about Quinn is that he was starting to come around nicely towards the end of the season, and he showed great maturation. Does Chalmers’ length and better than average defensive prowess eventually make Quinn expendable? It already seems a certainty that Marcus Banks will be traded (which I don’t agree with - I think the guy is a stud). Rumors have also started to float about DaeQuan Cook who I think also can be a good player in the league when he comes into form. But if Chalmers can show and prove his worth, I know for a fact that either Cook or Banks will be gone, depending on who’s biting the trade bait around the league. I do expect the team to go after a solid veteran at the position, keeping Quinn, Chalmers (potentially), and the veteran. Jason Williams I think undoubtedly will not return.

Foward Position: Seems to be a log jam at this position all of a sudden which isn’t a bad problem to have. When the regular season kicks off, I don’t expect this problem to still exist because a few of these guys may be calling a new place home. I see Beasley landing at the Small Forward position which means that Marion will be gone. Talks about Odom coming over in place of Marion may be validated, but that would place Odom at the PF position, meaning that Haslem may very well be used as trade bait to bring in another Center. At the Small Forward position, of course you also have the slow developing, (but very skilled), Dorrell Wright who may benefit more than anyone with this new up-tempo squad. I’ve always said that he appears to be more relaxed in a run-n-gun team than he did in the methodical half-court squad of Pat Riley with Shaq at the Center spot. So if Marion is potentially replaced with Odom who shifts to the PF position, at SF that leaves Wright, Beasley, and potentially one other person (acquired via free agency) with the ability to alternate from SG to SF. Ricky Davis, despite the great statistical year, I don’t expect to return. Considering that the team decided to bring in Beasley as opposed to Mayo, I don’t think the chances of Marion returning look very good. And as great as Haslem has been for the team, I don’t know that he returns unless the team experiments with running him at the Center position which is ok in certain situations, but would get them eaten alive against teams with big units. Backup Alexander Johnson could return with a very limited role believed to be on the inactive roster for most of the season.

Center Position:  Alonzo Mourning is the only potential lock, and if you know like I do, he’s a bit shaky right now as well. If he comes into the season healthy, he could very well be the starting Center, but if he is a question mark, it’ll all come down to who the team can land via the free agency market with the help of off-loading one of the veteran PF’s. One train of thought is that they could also stick with Blount to round off the position. Aside from Blount, (if he’s still with the team), Earl Barron should be expected to solidify a roster spot as well. These three seem like a good core group, but if Zo isn’t totally healthy throughout the season, Blount and Barron would do little to handle the likes of Duncan, and perhaps even an out of shape Shaq.

Team Forecast: There’s still a whole summer to mix-n-match and put together a squad that would work the way Pat Riley and company designed, but with D-Wade, Beasley, Wright, Chalmers, and Zo expected to be on the roster, one thing for sure, this is already an upgrade from the roster that tanked last season. Put that type of talent on an up-tempo squad and I think Miami puts themselves right back in the thick of things. Maybe not a championship level, but definitely a contending level which I expect to exceed a #8 seed. Then again, who knows? In the end, ‘Super’ Mario and Michael ‘Beastly’ may even help do the impossible….

This entry was posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008 at 1:17 am and is filed under Column, Heat, NBA News and Notes, NBA Draft. 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.