NBA Free Agents 2011: 5 Reasons Why Nene Hilario Is Joining the Miami Heat

I thought attempting to convince the masses that signing Eddy Curry was a good idea by the Miami Heat, but I really got my hands full on this one.

How on earth do I convince the cream of the crop of this year's free agency class in Nene Hilario to take half of what he could be making on any other team that's in pursuit of his services? I'm not promising anything, but I will try my best since I enjoy a challenge and actually looking at the spectrum in a different light.

Nene is the Denver Nuggets center and has been one of the league's most consistent and effective centers over the past three seasons. Considering that the Brazilian product actually had a brief scare with center at the start of the 2005-'06 season, it's a miracle that Nene is still a relevant part of the NBA and producing at a rate that most big men could only dream about.

A number of teams are in heavy pursuit for Nene's services, but Hilario has listed his top options to play with next year either the Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks or Houston Rockets. That's great news for the Heat because they don't have nowhere near enough money that teams like the New Jersey Nets or the Nuggets could possibly offer

With money playing a part in every one's life these days, I intend to offer some reason as to why Hilario should dodge making a lucrative amount of money and instead take his talents to South Beach to form a big four of sorts.

Championship Dreams

As much as the majority of the NBA populace doesn't want to admit it, there is no team closer to a guaranteed championship at the moment than the Miami Heat.

If you actually put last year into perspective and refrain from solely focusing on the NBA Finals and LeBron James' dismal performance, you'll notice that he, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh actually accomplished more than what any other trio has ever accomplished in the history of the game. Any big-time trio, whether it's today or in the 1980's, could boast at least one or two significant players that contributed to a large part either on offense or defense.

Without Udonis Haslem for the majority of the season and with Mike Miller shooting a career low 36 percent from beyond the arc and then 30 percent from the field in the postseason, the Heat were forced to rely on the likes of Mario Chalmers and Joel Anthony as two of their biggest contributors off the bench. This wasn't Ron Harper and Toni Kukoc on the Bulls or Kendrick Perkins and Rajon Rondo on the Celtics; this was an inconsistent point guard who was benched twice during the season and a starter who averaged a point per game aiding the Big Three.

Bosh, James and Wade were the Miami Heat last year, and through all the injuries that they dealt with, they managed to get a 58-24 record and a second seed in a tough Eastern Conference that featured the team with the NBA's best record. Miller would continue to struggle and Haslem would return in the Conference Finals, but would still be limited.

The Heat responded by defeating the seventh, second and first seed in the Eastern Conference in 15 games before taking more two games from the Dallas Mavericks. An NBA Finals was well within their grasp if LeBron didn't decide to pull a David Copperfield in games two through six.

Miami made it to an NBA Finals and came two games short of winning it, with three players doing nearly all of the work. If Nene Hilario has championship dreams in mind and is truly adamant about seeing success in his future for the rest of his career, then there's a wide open spot at center happily waiting for him.

Teammates

Those three teammates that I previously mentioned also tend to have an effect on the role players of this team as well.

As predicted in the 2010-'11 preseason, the Big Three were not only designed to score at will, but they also the ability to find ways for their teammates to score more effectively than any other team. If you have prolific slashers that always need to be accounted for, then the obvious response by the defense is that they're going to have to focus more of their attention on that player.

If that player is a quality enough slasher that they constantly enter the painted area, members of the front court will eventually have to step out in order to limit the slasher. In basic terms, it means that Dwyane Wade or LeBron James drives and then attracts the attention of a second defender. That means a player near the rim is open, which in this case, would be Nene Hilario.

The Heat weren't that effective at running this last season because they either kicked it out to an inconsistent shooter that would make the shot 30-40 percent of the time or to a player on the inside, who was either to slow to put the shot before it gets blocked or just couldn't get a grip on the ball and then watched it slip out of bounds and turn into a turnover.

That's why the team struggled last year without Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller. The Big Three was taking up all the attention in the paint, but they weren't giving it to their consistent bench threats. Instead, they were giving it to a 35 percent three-point shooter in Mario Chalmers or the myriad of other shooters who weren't doing much better.

Nene can be the player that solves that problem. He wants to be in a winning environment and he wants to play a large part. The Miami Heat offer both, as he not only joins a team hell bent on making it back to the NBA Finals, but one that can also give Nene a chance to star around the rim as he either draws enough attention so that his teammates can drive or receives passes and easy scores on account of the attention that the Big Three take.

Taking It Easy

There was a reason why players like Eddie House, Juwan Howard and Zydrunas Ilgauskas jumped on board the Miami Heat bandwagon before their cap space ran out, and it wasn't just because of the beaches.

Those players wanted an easy ride to their first title, so they contributed by either hanging out on the bench or contributing in spurts off the bench or on a momentary stint in the starting lineup. The Heat wouldn't have depended on them as much as they had to if Haslem and Miller were at full strength, but the team was basically forced to play big men because of the loss of Haslem and a player like House because of the loss of Miller.

For the most part, those players had an easy ride on their way to somehow contending for a championship. Just like the residents of South Beach, the Miami Heat is an easygoing team that sort of just lets things fall into place. They don't stress and they don't worry; they mostly just take things easy and wait for everything to pan out, which it eventually did once the postseason came around.

If Nene Hilario wants to contribute while putting in 30 minutes of action per night and averaging the easiest 12 points and 10 boards per of his life, then Miami is his best bet. I'm sure that every athlete wants to work their hardest in order to win a title so that the relief of winning feels much better, but adding Nene to the equation would just make things too easy for each member of the Big Three, the shooters and the man in the middle.

Hilario will find himself being set up for easy scores by his superstar teammates as well as setting up his own scores on account of the constant one-on-one match-ups due to the team having to focus their defense on more prolific players.

Playing a Huge Role Means Longer Minutes

Four times over Nene's career, he's averaged at least 30 minutes of action per night. There's no doubt he's getting at least near that playing time if he joins the Miami Heat. I say near because if the Heat actually do sport a lineup with Wade, James, Bosh and Nene, the majority of their games should be decided by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

Yes, it is very true that Nene will get his minutes on any other team that signs him, but none of those other teams offer the incentive of possibly winning a championship in their first year. The teams that are in heavy pursuit of his services, such as the New Jersey Nets, can do nothing but give Nene wishful thinking that they'll build around him and continue improving.

Nene wouldn't have to worry about in Miami. He gets his starting spot immediately, gets a lot of minutes because of the lack of depth at center and still plays a huge part on this team despite being surrounded by three superstars. While many will argue that shots are hard enough to come by as it is, take note that Nene will receive the majority of his points off of easy shots near the basket off of feeds that came off of drives.

The Heat will still lack a lot of depth at the power forward and center position with their current back-ups being Udonis Haslem, Juwan Howard (if he re-signs), Dexter Pittman and Eddy Curry. Only one of those players are trustworthy, which makes the other three inadequate to receive a heavy dose of minutes because of the lack of production that they would have on the floor.

Because of the lack of depth, Nene gets plenty of minutes and will continue to play a large part as he allows members of the Big Three to rest while he potentially plays the role of second option in instances.

Offer Immediate Success

This should be the most compelling argument in order to woo Nene Hilario out of Denver for good and signing with the Heat.

It's painfully obvious that Miami doesn't have a lot of money. Face it, the chances of this deal happening are slim to none. However, I am a firm believe in the belief that anything is possible because I have seen the impossible happen. I saw three future Hall of Famers join up in Boston, and I saw three superstars in their prime give up tens of millions of dollars just so they can join for the sole purpose of winning a title and making it a little easier on themselves.

The same people that are saying Nene going to the Heat is impossible are the same exact people who said that Chris Bosh and LeBron James weren't going to Miami. Yet, here we are a year later, and the Heat have those two players playing alongside Dwyane Wade. Somehow, the Heat possess arguably the league's two top players in the starting lineup.

Miami may not offer the money that teams like the Nets could offer, but they do offer legacies. They had their season come to a crashing halt last year, but does that mean we should write them off because LeBron James had a hiccup in the Finals and two players couldn't do it on their own? We know LeBron is a better player than that, and we know what he's capable of since we saw it for a month just a few weeks prior.

You're not going to make $10 million a season with the Heat. What this team lacks in funds, however, they offer in the chance to have the most fun of your life on one of the most entertaining teams in one of the greatest environments you could possibly play in. This team offers success in more ways than one, and the opportunity for a player like Nene to join that is waiting.

Call it the easy way out; call it whatever you want. This team isn't about greed or egos, it's about winning games and having fun when they do it.

Like I said before, this is South Beach, and stressing over the little things isn't a problem.