Getting Allen Iverson This Summer Is the Miami Heat's Only Answer

Allen Iverson is coming off the lowest point of his career.

He was traded early this past season for a player that spearheaded his former team's run all the way to the Western Conference Finals, only to fall short to the eventual NBA champs.

The team Iverson was traded to ultimately preferred him to come off the bench, and, upon his refusal, told him to stay away until his contract ran up.

Meanwhile, during that same period, the Miami Heat capped off last season in a Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. Like every other game preceding Game 7, the losing team was blown out, and it ended a season which saw the Heat execute the biggest single-season turnaround of any team in NBA history.

Fast forward to present day, and both parties are not in the greatest of posturing positions entering this offseason.

Miami and Dwayne Wade are at a stalemate regarding his contract extension. As Wade has stated openly in the past week, he would like to see a championship team in place before committing his future to Miami. However, the Heat would like Wade to sign first so that they know they are building a team around a player who will be staying.

Needless to say, there does not seem to be a resolution looming.

Here is the tipping point of the issue, however.

Miami needs Wade more than Wade needs Miami. And any knowledgeable NBA fan should know well enough why this is true without any explanation.

So now, let's fast forward again, but to this time next year. Wade is a free agent and it's 2010. Here is exactly what will record in Wade's mind as he considers his re-signing with Miami:

Pros

1. The Heat was the first NBA team to take a chance on me.

2. The franchise and the city have treated me with nothing but love since I got here and allowed me to voice my opinion on any personnel decision the organization has made.

3. They got Shaq in the past to put me in a position to win a championship, which we achieved. Then, they traded him as soon as it was clear that the rest of the team was too old to contend, and Shaq was too bitter and lazy to care.

Cons

1. The fan base is nowhere near as present at American Airlines as it is in Madison Square Garden or the United Center.

2. The market is much bigger and I will make more money in the long run playing for the Knicks or Bulls.

3. The Heat made me play with Joel Anthony and the space cadet formerly known as Michael Beasley when I could be playing with someone like Derrick Rose in Chicago.

Getting out of Wade's mind for a moment, Miami needs to consider how another season of Wade single-handedly carrying the team in another wasted year of his prime, only to fall far short from the finish line, will take a devastating toll in Wade's thought process next summer.

Enter Iverson. Miami needs to sign him on a one-year deal.

Whether he will start or come off the bench will ultimately depend on how well he can play with Wade and only one ball to share.

But Miami's most obvious shortcoming last season was its inability to score.

Iverson can still do that pretty well.

Some may worry about the potential long-term ramifications a controversial, yet influential person like Iverson will have on the Heat's younger players.

And it is merited.

But also consider that Iverson is one of the most passionate players in the game, and surely, having someone like that will be beneficial for Miami's most prized young player in Beasley.

As for Iverson's outlook on things, he has already voiced in the media this week that playing for the Heat is atop his wish list.

It gives him ample opportunity to revitalize a team desperate for the assets Iverson reputably provides, and it also will allow him to rebuild his stock so that next summer he can sign a much lengthier and more rewarding deal to finish his career.

Will signing Iverson put Miami over the top? Absolutely not.

But it will show Wade that Miami's interests as a franchise are still concurrent with Wade's interests as a player.

It will give Miami a more talented team than it had last year.

And frankly, given that all Miami can really offer to free agents this summer is one-year deals at small amounts, and given that Wade does not want to deal with another year of doing everything by himself, Miami really has no choice but to sign Iverson.

Nowhere else will they find a player of his caliber at the discounted price and 1 year deal they could perceivably attain him at.

This summer, Allen Iverson is, quite literally, Miami's only answer.