Floor General Needed: Who Might End Up At Point Next Season?

 

The Heat have been in need of a capable starting point for quite some time now. Actually, it's been about two and a half years... maybe even longer.

Riley should have been looking for one since 2006-2007 (when J. Will body begin to brake down). But he didn't, and the Heat has suffered for it greatly.

Well now, the organization has put out a casting call for someone to star in its floor general role. There's only one problem: they may have waited a little to long.

Like the CENTER position, this off season free agent pool is full of mediocre talent. It only has one player with All-Star potential. Maybe as many as five others could be legitimate starters and the rest are suited for bench positions.

Pat Riley indeed, has a problem on his hands. The Heat isn't in a position to spend its 18th pick on a point guard, they need a proved talent to contend with the ever increasing pool of talented floor leaders in, not only the East, but the entire NBA.

The pickings are indeed slim but there is light at the end of the tunnel... kinda. I personally think they should stick with Mario Chalmers, sure he sometimes struggles when being pressed, however, his half court offense is to be commended.

TOP OPTIONS AVAILABLE THROUGH FREE AGENCY

As of now, there are probably four or five guys on the Heat radar. They are:

Raymond Felton(FA), Luke Ridnour(FA), Will Bynum(RFA), C.J. Watson(RFA) and maybe Jamasl Tinsley(FA).

All of these of these players would be a up-grade over Carlos Arroyo. And by all means, the Heat must not re-sign this guy.

Felton will be looking for a 7 to 9 million dollar deal, and that's too much for a guy that will never be better than above average. The Heat should pass on him if the asking price is more than 7 million.

Luke Ridnour is my favorite possibility, he's a better player than Jason Williams, a PG the Heat won a Title with. Ridnour is the PERFECT compliment to Wade. He's a great ball handler, excellent floor general and has a good enough stroke to keep defenses honest. His defensive skills are also vastly underrated. 

The best part is, he comes cheap. 6 million a year for 3 to 4 years would probably do it.

Will Bynum is a intriguing prospect.  He's a guy loaded with offensive potential. The guy can score, create and does a heck of a job running a team.

The only knock(s) on him is his small stature(boarder-line 6ft) and his lack of a deep shot (career 20 percent shooter). But at 2 to 4 million, the Heat might not be able to pass on the 27 year old from Chicago.

C.J. Watson is all offense. Heck of a scorer but not that good at running a team. He has nice size at 6'2 and 190lbs.

He's also a good shooter, really good. Some concerns with his defense because he comes from that Golden State system but would serve as a nice compliment off the bench to Chalmers.

Players like Rodney Suckey and Sebastian Telfair might come available because their deals have either team or player options to terminate.

PLAYERS THAT MIGHT BE AVAILABLE THROUGH TRADES

There are several players that might be available through trades, all the Heat have to do is give their respected teams a call. They are Ramon Sessions(MIN), Mike Conley(MEM), Kirk Hinrich(CHI), Baron Davis(LAC), Gilbert Arenas(WAS), Tony Parker(SAS) and maybe, dare I say it, Chris Paul(NOH).

Miami doesn't have much to bargin with, other than cap-relief for whatever team. Pat Riley must be cautious that he doesn't make a bad deal like the 76ers did with Brand.

The Heat are building to be strong for the next four or five seasons. They must make sure they are free to build around Beasley(21 years old) when the Wade era ends. So here's to hoping that Riley makes a smart move that lands the Heat a floor general for the next three to five years.