Future for the Heat

Tonight's game made me think a bit. Wade's line was ridiculous: 48 points on 16/21 shooting, 11 assists, 8 boards, 3 steals, 3 blocks. Despite this, the Heat simply could not will out a victory. It's clear they have some pieces that are good enough to take this team to the playoffs, but not enough to win a title. They are simply not playing well enough together for 48 minutes to produce those victories. With Shaq's massive contract weighing us down, the only chance we have now of competing in the immediate future is through the draft.

Luckily Daequan Cook is panning out. Unfortunately he plays Wade's position so when they are on the floor together one of them is uncomfortable with his role. Regardless, Wade needs all the help he can get. Aside from that, the only real contributor we can consistently count on is Udonis Haslem. Dorell Wright shows flashes of fantastic play and then disappears. However, he is still extremely young and will come cheap if the Heat want to re-sign him in the offseason.

That leaves the Heat dependent on the upcoming draft to restock the talent at a low price. At this point the Heat have the 2nd worst record in the NBA, an excellent place to be considering there are a handful of elite prospects out there. The name on everyone's mind is freshman Michael Beasley, a 6'9 240 pound power forward at Kansas State.

Beasley is a monster, averaging 26 points and 14 boards a game. Landing him would be HUGE for this franchise. It would allow a move of Haslem to center for the long run, or maybe just in the rotation behind Shaq. It would even give us the flexibility to trade him elsewhere for a solid point guard.

Speaking of Shaq, I'm starting to wonder if this team doesn't play better without him. He demands attention from both opposing teams and his teammates while he is on the court, and lately he hasn't been able to produce at a very high level. Today's NBA is moving towards small ball and Shaq's aging knees don't cater to that style of play. Unfortunately he is still on the books for 2 more years and 40 million dollars after this season and retiring won't help our cap situation.

Pat Riley really needs to work on a trade as soon as possible. It doesn't look like anything will happen though, because I guarantee you he has been trying. Barring an injury, I don't really think there will be any trade coming up, at least not one that will have a discernable impact on this team.

Frankly, I'm not even sure I want a trade. Just keep losing and get yourself a stud player. Let those 15 million dollars of Williams/Davis' contracts expire without taking in another expensive player with a longer contract and find a way to make things work somehow.

Hopefully we can keep this year's draft pick (lottery protected if not it goes to Minnesota) and maybe we can buy Phoenix's first round pick as they apparently love giving those away every year. If not, things look bleak in otherwise sunny Miami.