Jerry Stackhouse On His Way To Miami Heat?: Why Miami Would Be Wise To Sign Him
The Miami Heat worked out guard Jerry Stackhouse on Thursday, as they're "looking into adding another veteran," according to ESPN's Chris Broussard.
While Stackhouse may be a shell of his former superstar self, the Heat may be onto something here.
What Stackhouse can provide is another body to add to a team's depth, and the injury-riddled Heat need exactly that right now.
Two of Miami's Big Three already sat out preseason games with hamstring injures. Mike Miller just underwent surgery on his thumb today and won't be back until January. Mario Chalmers and Eddie House also missed time this preseason with their own maladies.
The Heat don't need any more superstars—Wade, James and Bosh should do—but they do need healthy complementary players. They need guys who can come into a game off the bench, cold, and knock down open jumpers when LBJ and Wade draw double-teams.
Otherwise, the Heat could end up looking just like the Cavaliers, as ESPN's John Hollinger noted today.
For that reason, and a few others (as you'll see), the Heat should follow through on Stackhouse's tryout and offer him a contract.
Update, 11:15 p.m., Friday: The Miami Herald is reporting that Stackhouse was on a 10pm flight from Atlanta to Miami—a "strong signal" that Stackhouse will be signing a contract with the Heat soon.
Nothing Beats Cheap Labor
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Once the Big Three took less than the maximum this summer, they put their future role-player teammates in a precarious situation.
Everyone else on the team, by virtue of the Big Three's sacrifice, knew they'd be signing for a discount in exchange for a chance at a championship.
Be it Mike Miller's five-year, $29 million contract, Udonis Haslem's five-year, $20 million deal, or the fact that Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddie House and Juwan Howard all signed for the veteran's minimum, each and every Heat player (besides, arguably, Joel Anthony) made a financial sacrifice to earn their spot on the team.
With a total team salary of over $65 million, the Heat can only offer veterans a minimum contract at this point.
Would Stackhouse accept?
Correction: Nothing Beats Cheap, Desperate Labor
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Would Stackhouse accept a veteran's min contract to join the Heat?
Well, it appears like he's already jumped on a plane to sign the deal, if the Miami Herald's report is accurate.
Stackhouse has been...well, vocal, to say the least, about his desire to join the Heat ever since this summer.
LeBron and D-Wade gave him the obligatory "we'd obviously love to sign a player of Stack's talent," but nothing came of it. Until now.
And, clearly, Stackhouse has jumped at the opportunity. His lobbying to join this summer couldn't have hurt his case.
Brings Veteran Leadership and Playoff Experience
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What's one thing that most members of the Heat have in common?
More than half of them have never played in a single NBA Finals game.
When you're in June matching up against the Lakers, who have played in three straight Finals, or the Celtics, who've earned berths to two of the past three, that inexperience could easily come back to haunt Miami.
Enter Stackhouse, who's likely got the burn of the 2006 Finals seared into his memories for life. This time, he'd get a chance to be on the other side of a D-Wade Finals team... and this time, he'd have LeBron and Bosh by his side, too.
The fact is, at nearly 36 years old, Stack won't force the issue with his play—he'll know his role and stick to it. That's invaluable on a team that needs that type of confidence from every position on the floor.
Relief For Mario Chalmers
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Raise your hand if you're confident that Mario Chalmers could lead a team to an NBA championship this year.
Hmmm...what's that? You're not confident at all?
You and Pat Riley have something in common.
Chances are, James and Wade will end up handling the ball on a majority of the Heat's offensive possessions this year, leaving Chalmers, the PG, without his typical role. Instead, they'll ask him to spot up along the wing and knock down open shots—aka, be a SG that can handle the ball at times.
Something tells me that Stackhouse, with his 18PPG career average, may be a little better suited for the "knock down open jumpers" role.
With Mike Miller out until January, the Heat would be largely relying on Chalmers and Eddie House behind Wade in their backcourt. It's not too tough to see why they'd want to invest in some insurance (in the form of Stackhouse), given that.
The Guy Deserves a Ring
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While I can't claim to know Stackhouse personally, I do know that I've never heard his name in the headlines like I've heard Brett Favre's, Tiger Woods', or Ben Roethlisberger's.
I've never heard Stackhouse accused of domestic abuse, like Lance Stephenson, or sexual assault, like Kobe Bryant.
He's been in the league for 15 years, and his only truly awful incident I remember came in Game 4 of the '06 Finals. Stack flagrantly fouled Shaquille O'Neal on a breakaway dunk attempt and got himself suspended for Game 5 in the process.
Dumb? Yes. Does that make him a bad guy? Not so much.
And while he's not playing basketball, Stack's either donating time and money to diabetes research or buying his mom (a pastor) a church. You know.
Stack sounds like one of the NBA's good guys on and off the court, to me. And while I'll be conditioned to hate the Heat just like the rest of the non-Miami NBA fans, Stack's pursuit of a championship would make their dominance a little more digestible.
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