| Lottery Summit: Miami Heat Authored by Andrew Perna & The RGM Heat Forum - May 13, 2008 - 1:05 pm
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The Miami Heat:
2007-08 Record: 15-67
Difference From 2006-07: 29 Fewer Wins
Chance Of Landing #1 Pick: 25%
Restricted Free Agents: Blake Ahearn, Chris Quinn, Kasib Powell, Dorell Wright
Unrestricted Free Agents: Earl Barron, Ricky Davis, Shawn Marion (ETO), Alonzo Mourning, Jason Williams.
The Verdicts
1. What could the team have done different to make the playoffs?
SA37: Injuries, more than anything else, really killed Miami's season.
BBallFreak: For starters, the personnel could have been better suited to Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal’s abilities. They went after slashers like Ricky Davis, and let shooters and role players, like Jason Kapono and James Posey respectively, go.
Injuries and age did play a huge role in Miami's downfall, but even had we been healthy, the team was fundamentally flawed from the beginning. Also, expecting Shaq to be the second option when he clearly just doesn't have it in him anymore, was probably not the best move, but one born out of necessity, given our cap situation.
CB4MiamiHeat: If we had a better offseason. You can’t acquire Penny Hardaway and Smush Parker, and expect to get better.
CoolD: Nothing at all. We had too many injuries to our core players.
heat4life: If we traded Shaq before the season. His attitude and demeanor polluted the locker room, and in my opinion it was only a matter of time before the team would break apart. Health issues had a big affect as well, especially Wade's and the always unreliable Jason Williams.
2. Where were the team’s biggest strengths?
SA37: Before all the injuries, Wade and a solid frontline. Post-injuries, umm...Pat Riley's scouting ability?
BBallFreak: As it stands now, you've got to look at Wade, Udonis Haslem, and Shawn Marion as the team's biggest strengths this past year, but other than that, their really weren't many.
CB4MiamiHeat: Our biggest strength is when we have the best player (Wade) on the floor, because this team is at the bottom of the league in rebounding, defending and scoring.
CoolD: None.
heat4life: The one strength was that at times our youth proved to be athletic enough to run up-and-down, score and play some defense. They weren’t consistent enough to really consider it a strength, but the fact that most of our players are young, gives us something to build on for next season with hard work and commitment.
3. Who had a surprisingly effective season?
SA37: I can't say anyone stood out in this regard, although Chris Quinn did have his moments and Dorell Wright showed he may be productive in a more up-tempo offense. Mark Blount also showed he may be somewhat serviceable.
BBallFreak: Surprisingly effective? No one surprised me in terms of their effectiveness. I guess you could look at Wright, Quinn and Daequan Cook, but they were all so up-and-down, unreliable from one night to the next. An honorable mention goes to Joel Anthony, who does seem to understand how to play defense and block shots in this league. Also Marcus Banks, who may actually live up to his contract.
CB4MiamiHeat: Quinn showed that could be a serviceable backup. Most of us thought he shouldn’t even make the team, or at best was a third-stringer.
CoolD: Quinn.
heat4life: It's hard to answer this question in a season when even your television announcer gets thrown up on by a kid during a game, but if I had to pick someone it would be Quinn. He showed that he can be reliable bench player. Opie really showed steadiness more than any other player on the roster showed all season. Riley also deserves mention here for being "clutch" and dealing "The Big Cancer" and his contract, although Riley started this mess with his moves last offseason.
4. Who had a surprisingly ineffective season?
SA37: Miami fans were looking for Wright to take the next step in becoming a consistently productive player. Instead, he never took control of the small forward position that was supposed to be his, and really didn't show any consistency.
BBallFreak: Riley. Nothing he did seemed to work, from personnel to motivational techniques. He's better than that.
CB4MiamiHeat: Too many to name. Wright didn’t show big improvements, Shaq stopped commanding double-teams and rebounding and Wade still looked banged up.
CoolD: Riley, and Shaq as player before getting traded.
heat4life: Williams. After all the "hard summer work" to stay healthy, he still gets hurt, wouldn't play aggressive on the offensive end and really didn't come through on a team that desperately was looking for anyone to step up as a second option.
5. How confident are you in the front office heading into the offseason?
SA37: If things fall into place as far as the lottery goes, then Miami will have two very valuable pieces to work with (Marion and the pick) to either use in a trade or to combine with Wade and Haslem to complete the core of a solid team next year. With the Shaq trade, Miami put themselves in a much better position financially, although the team may not see the fruits of that this summer.
BBallFreak: Given how displeased I was with the results of the season, oddly optimistic. Riley has never been one not to have a plan, and history has proven that they're generally good plans.
CB4MiamiHeat: I trust Riley in free agency and trades, but not as much in the draft.
CoolD: Pretty good. Riley was losing some of his magic touch as a coach, but has a great track record as a general manager. In Riley We Trust.
heat4life: In Riley We Trust. He's done it more than once before, and he took the right steps to begin doing it again when he traded the "impossible to deal" Shaq during the season for a soon-to-expire contract.
6. What are the team’s biggest needs in the draft?
SA37: Marion's future with the team is uncertain, Miami has no point guard it can groom into a first-team contributor, and their best frontline player is Udonis Haslem, which is never a good thing for a team looking to get back to being a contender. However, when you have such a high pick you really need to be drafting the best player available, not the best player at the position you need. (Just ask Portland how that worked out when they drafted the position -- center Sam Bowie -- they needed instead of Michael Jordan, who played the same position as Clyde Drexler.)
BBallFreak: Scoring, defense and a post presence. We need someone who can add to the defensive mindset of Wade, Haslem, Marion and Banks, while also chipping in nearly 20 points a night on efficient shooting.
CB4MiamiHeat: We need everything, so go with the best player available regardless of position.
CoolD: Center, then point guard.
heat4life: This team needs everything but a shooting guard, with point guard and a low post threat being the most glaring needs. Shooting and perimeter defense would also be welcomed.
7. Assuming the lottery plays out true, who would you like your team to select?
SA37: Michael Beasley seems to be the guy who would fit most comfortably alongside Wade, and would also give Miami the flexibility to deal Haslem or Marion, who is the more attractive asset of the two. That would allow the Heat to bring in two-three quality players, or to dump Blount to give them more cap space in 2009 or 2010. Heat fans won't complain as long as one of the two, Beasley or Derrick Rose, are in a Miami jersey next season.
BBallFreak: Beasley. He might not be the perfect fit, in terms of defense and a polished post game, but he is a very complete player.
CB4MiamiHeat: I would like Beasley. He would solve our rebounding problems and give us an inside-outside threat on offense, something that all the top playoff teams have had this year.
CoolD: Rose, and no one else.
heat4life: Beasley, because even though he plays a position where we have depth, he is the best player in the draft and you can't pass on that. With that being said, I would be equally as happy with Rose.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM. If you’re a fan of one of the many teams that we have yet to feature, surf over to our forums and weigh in on what is happening within the organization. If you’d like to contact Andrew, shoot him an e-mail at Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com |
