NBA Free Agency: Will It Be Christmas in July for the Miami Heat?
The Future of the Miami Heat starts now. As of July 1st , NBA teams were given the green light to talk to the most star-studded free agent class to hit the market since the formation of the NBA. Never in the history of the NBA has so many stars been free before; stars like Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, LeBron James, Carlos Boozer, Amare Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki, and the list goes on…
The Miami Heat are the team that have the biggest chance in landing the “big three” (Wade, Bosh, LeBron) but should they? With a max contract to Wade, Bosh, and James, Miami would be in a very tight room to add anyone else.
As of right now, Miami has two players signed for the 2010-11 season, Michael Beasley, and Mario Chalmers. If Miami gets “the big 3” that would still leave them with very little money to purse a good bench, and I don’t care who you are you can’t play Bosh, Wade, and James for 48 Minutes every single night. That’s just plain stupid to even think that.
I will come out and say it, I do not want LeBron James in Miami. Sure, I might lose a few readers but I just don’t think LeBron will mesh well with Wade in an NBA team. They can play great in the National Team because they are only playing for a short period of time. In the 82-game system of the NBA it’s a little more complicated. With two seconds left in the game, who do you give the ball to? Wade or LeBron? What if one misses? The other will be thinking in the back of his mind, “See, I could have made that shot with ease.”
Another reason I don’t think LeBron will be a good fit in Miami is because of this ego. LeBron is too good of a player to be part of a supporting cast. Sure, he might win a championship, or two, or five, but, people would always talk about how LeBron could never win it alone much like Kobe Bryant until he won two without Shaquille O’Neal. The Miami Heat are Wade’s team simply put. Even if LeBron and Bosh were to come to Miami, it would still be Wade’s team. He is the one who is recruiting people to his team, not the other way around. He was the one that said from day one that he was going to stay with Miami, showing his loyalty to the Miami Heat. Therefore no matter how many championships the dynamic trio were to win, Wade would always be one ring ahead.
Another thing to watch for in the Summer of 2010 is the fact that some of the free agents have already been locked up by their current team. For example, Rudy Gay agreed to an extension with the Grizzlies that is speculated to be around $82M, you can cross out Gay from the free agent pool. The Atlanta Hawks have offered free agent Joe Johnson a maximum six-year contract worth $119 million, and sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard that Johnson is all but sure to accept, so cross him out as well. Other not so significant but important free agents that are gone include guard John Salmons who agreed to a five year for about $39 million from Milwaukee , Darko Milicic has agreed to a four-year, $20M deal with Minnesota, and Channing Frye is considering a five-year, $25M offer from the Phoenix Suns.
The Worst case scenario for Miami you may ask? Well, sign Wade and Bosh. Then you know Pat Riley is a man with swagger and can pull the trigger in trades that would blow your mind away. Has anyone thought of the possibility of Riley trading for Chris Paul? He wants out of New Orleans and he, like every player out there, wants to go to a team that is championship ready and has a president and owner that are committed to winning. I won’t be surprised if Bosh and Wade sign with Miami and we end up getting Carlos Boozer as well. Then we pull off a trade with New Orleans. We ship Michael Beasley, our $16 million trade exemption and first-round pick, and in return we could get Paul. Maybe we might even throw in Joel Anthony and Mario Chalmers in there (much like the trade we were trying to get with Toronto).
No one can be sure what happens, but one thing is certain, this is by far the most exciting time of the year. Pat Riley compared it to being a little kid waiting under the Christmas Tree waiting for the clock to hit 12:01… Now that it finally passed that time, it’s time to open up our presents don’t you think?
