30 Teams in 30 Days: Miami Heat

Via a trade on draft night, Miami also picked up the fairly promising and well-rounded point guard Mario Chalmers, who is popularly known for “the shot” he drained to force overtime against Memphis in the 2008 NCAA Championship game. Chalmers is in the mold of former Heat backup Keyon Dooling—a long, athletic guard who can shoot the ball, defend, run the floor, and provide a great deal of energy to help lift the team.

As long as the rookie camp’s marijuana incident is put behind him, Chalmers should prove to be more than worth the exchange with Minnesota (future second-round pick and cash considerations).

In order to try and make up for the three-point shooting lost in the departure 2006-2007’s Jason Kapono, Miami went out and signed veteran sharpshooter James Jones to a five-year deal in July. The native of South Florida appeared in 58 games for the Trail Blazers last season, where he scored eight points per game and shot an impressive 44.4 percent from beyond the arc.

Another positive to the addition of Jones is his on-ball defense, as his lateral quickness and outstanding length allow him to disrupt the opposition far more than Kapono could ever dream.

Riley also brought in a couple of flyers in Jamaal Magloire, who will add much-needed depth at the five-spot, and former fourth-overall pick Shaun Livingston, who looked to be one of the NBA’s most promising guards two season ago before tearing multiple left knee ligaments in 2007. The 6’7’’ point guard is said to have worked tirelessly to return to form, and potentially get on the right track to advancing his career to where he had once envisioned himself going—the NBA All-Star game.

Time and patience will be required, but with a two-year deal, the low-risk, high-reward signing of Livingston could result in a perfect backcourt complement to Dwyane Wade in the future.

Speaking of Wade—how about the way he played for Team USA throughout its Gold Medal run this past summer in Beijing? “Flash” was absolutely phenomenal, and certainly proved himself to be back in typical form—and by that, I mean 2006 NBA Finals MVP form.

With a healthy Wade, the addition of Beasley, and rejuvenated Shawn Marion motivated by his contract year, Miami’s 2008 roster moves have to be considered a success. They couldn’t have gone anywhere but up from last season’s 15-win campaign, though, right?

Depth Chart

C: Mark Blount / Jamaal Magloire / Joel Anthony
PF: Michael Beasley / Udonis Haslem
SF: Shawn Marion / James Jones / Dorell Wright
SG: Dwyane Wade / Daequan Cook / Yakhouba Diawara
PG: Chris Quinn / Mario Chalmers / Marcus Banks / Shaun Livingston

Biggest Strength: Offensive Weapons

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