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Miami Heat
2007-08 Record: 15-67
Cool 2007 Stat: Clearly couldn’t find any positive stats for Miami. Here are Miami’s team leaders’ ranks in the NBA – Total Points (Dwayne Wade, 51st), Total Rebounds (Udonis Haslem, 65th), Total Assists (Wade, 32nd), Total Blocks (Shaquille O’Neal, 62nd)
Anticipated Starting Five
PG- Mario Chalmers
SG- Dwyane Wade
SF- Shawn Marion
PF- Michael Beasley
C-Mark Blount
Key Reserves: James Jones, Jamal Magloire, Udonis Haslem, Chris Quinn
Biggest Strength – Healthy Dwayne Wade
I am a big D. Wade fan even when he was in college. I think he is a the second best shooting guard in the NBA and a championship player. The tear he went on in the 2006 playoffs and finals was no fluke. The way he played in Beijing is the real Flash, and I fully expect that performance to carry over into this NBA season. He has a big chip on his shoulder with a lot of people saying his ‘06 playoffs was a one shot deal and that he isn’t the player everyone thinks he is. The only question is how will his body hold up considering he is back playing the style that makes him so good. Attacking every opportunity with reckless abandon, putting his body to the test every drive to the cup. If he makes it all the way through, this team will be in very good shape.
Biggest Weakness – Center Position
Mark Blount is the starting center, and Jamal Magloire is the back-up – do I really need to say anything else? I mean, seriously, who thought paying Mark Blount over $7M was a good idea? He averaged 6.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last season as a starting center. Blount is only starting because the alternative is even worse. Magloire is another case of solid potential amounting to very little. He had one decent season in 2004 averaging a double-double but not much else. He is a disappointment, and at 30, I don’t see him turning his career around now. Maybe David Padgett out works both these guys and works himself into the rotation. This team doesn’t need scoring from the center position, but they really must have defense, rebounding and consistent effort. Padgett might be able to do that for them.
Key Player in ’08 – Mario Chalmers
I think what will make or break this team is the point guard play. Going into camp I don’t think anyone can say who the starter will be with 100% certainty. Marcus Banks, Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn are all competing and have a legit chance to win the job. When it’s all said and done, Chalmers should be the guy that comes out the winner. He is less volatile and doesn’t need to shoot to be effective like Banks. What he brings defensively at the point of the defense is something neither one of those other guys can bring to the table. If he shoots the ball anywhere close to the way he did in college, Chalmers will be the perfect sidekick for Dwayne Wade.
Their Thaddeus (exciting player 22 or under) – Michael Beasley, 19
The Heat are in a rare position where they already have a young superstar on their team but also were bad enough and lucky enough to grab the #1 overall pick. Think David Robinson and Tim Duncan, or to a much lesser extent, Jerry Stackhouse and Allen Iverson. I’m not sold on Beasley as an all-star caliber PF in the league. He filled up the box score better than anyone in the country last year, but the couple times I saw him play, he seemed immature (getting frustrated with his teammates, showing a lack of leadership), and I’m not sure the big night lights of Miami will be good for him. He’s certainly not off to a good start, getting a $50,000 fine for an undisclosed infraction at the rookie symposium. However, he’s not the #1 guy on this team, and that could help. Either way, he’ll score a lot his first couple years, and the Heat fans will be excited about him. Whether he turns out as the next Derrick Coleman or the next Karl Malone will have to wait.
Pete’s 2008 Outlook: 2nd place, Southeast division / 7th place, Eastern conference / 14th place, NBA
It’s all about Dwayne Wade. Watching him in the Olympics, I was reminded that when healthy, D-Wade is as unstoppable as any player in the league. He was a star on a team of stars. This season, he has 2 other high-caliber players on his team in Michael Beasley and Shawn Marion. Marion is playing for a contract, and Beasley will be able to score with teams focusing in on Wade. Obviously the PG and Center positions are question marks, but I think they will be good enough, and Wade will be great enough, to lead the Heat back to the playoffs.
Dannie’s 2008 Outlook: 3rd place, Southeast division / 8th place, Eastern conference / 17th place, NBA
Miami had a very good off-season. They brought in the best player in the draft from a pure talent standpoint. They got a great value in Mario Chalmers with a late round trade. They have a healthy D. Wade on top of his game as well as Shawn Marion playing for one last big contract. We won’t see a 42-game turnaround like Boston did, but 25 is certainly within reach. That should be enough to get the Heat into the playoffs. And I can tell you right now, no top seeds will want to face a playoff performer like Dwayne Wade in the first round.
Philly Connection: Mark Blount
The Heat don’t have any former Sixers or local players or coaches on the squad, but they do have a player that Billy King really, really wanted to sign to really, really stupid Billy King contract. That would be career 8ppg scorer Mark Blount. Blount had a career year in 2003, and King, not knowing what a “contract year” meant, was salivating over signing the 7-foot center. Luckily for Sixers fans, Blount re-signed with the Celtics and has enjoyed 5 mediocre, well-paid years for 3 different teams since.
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The Miami Heat are one of the youngest teams in the NBA and look to turn around last year’s disastrous season. Based on the Olympics, it appears that Dwayne Wade is 90% of the player he used to be which is big, but how big?
Biggest strength(s):
-Dwayne Wade (Pookie) (when healthy)
-Uptempo style
-Potential talent (Beasley, Quinn, Chalmers)
Biggest weakness(es):
-Perimeter shooting (What a difference two years make!)
-Frontcourt
-Young team
My biggest question about Miami is their new head coach, Erik Spoelstra, who Pat Riley chose as his replacement. He would be the youngest NBA coach, even younger than Lawrence Frank!! Can he coach? For his sake, I hope so. It is a very interesting story and position he is in.
With that said, I think the Heat could be 4th in the Southeast, 9th in the East.
There will be four teams that I think will be fighting strongly for that 8th seed:
-Atlanta Hawks
-Miami Heat
-Chicago Bulls
-Milwaukee Bucks
(And perhaps the Wizards if they really falter without Arenas!)
Why they would win the 8th seed?
-All the strength mentioned above
-Weak conference
-Dwayne Wade has to be healthy!!
Why they would not win the 8th seed?
-All the weaknesses mentioned above
-Too much competition
-Too young
-Erik Spoelstra, Is he ready? I wouldn’t be surprised if Pat Riley pulls a Michael Jordan and steps in as head coach!! He did to Stan Van Gundy. Now Stan does not have a Championship!! Riley could have made him an assistant coach again. Oh well, but historically Pat Riley is one of the best coaches all-time!!
This is how Dwayne Wade hurt himself and is no longer the player he once was.
This is Dwayne Wade before the injury. Now he is only 90% of the man he was.
Shawn Marion is trade bait for the Heat, which is no surprise. The 2009 off-season is one the Miami Heat will keep an eye on. I have heard rumors about them trying to get Carlos Boozer. Boozer has a home in Florida and has to tend to his sick child.
There is also talk about a potential trade with the Bulls, even though rumors say it is dead. If something major with the Heat occurs before the Regular Season begins, then this site should be REVISITED.
The trade would be the Heat trading Shawn Marion & Marcus Banks to the Bulls in exchange for Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes, and Joakim Noah. I think the Heat would really get the best of that deal and it could really help them get that 8th seed!! The Heat would get perimeter shooting, more quickness, and athleticism something the Heat have. The more, the merrier. It would put all those slow frontcourt players to the bench and for fewer minutes.
On a side note, the Sixers will be (3-1) against the Heat. We win both home games and we win one on the road. Now this is against the current Heat team they have now. Depth and more experience will make the difference!!
Rob...Why would the Heat make that trade with the Bulls? Am I missing something? With a healthy Wade playing 35-40 minutes per night at SG, where are Gordon and Hughes going to play? How can they help with the outside shooting if they can’t get on the floor?
Yeah they’d be totally overloaded at the SG spot. Gordon and Hughes are too undersized to play SF.
I think the opponents center will just have a career game against them every night. If they get matched up against the Magic in the playoffs it will be a mega-sweep.
Well, Hughes’ contract will expire shortly. Ben Gordon is more comfortable coming off the bench than he is as a starter. They really need the three point shooting and the extra quickness.
Dorrell Wright at the SF. James Jones comes off the bench at SF. Now, their frontcourt that is their real issue.
Rob – Ben Gordon is not more comfortable coming off the bench. It is well known he prefers to be a starter and especially wants to be paid like not only a starter but a very good starter at that. Coming off the bench behind Wade makes little sense because his minutes will be vastly limited and not proportional with his salary.
Further – They were only 15th in the NBA last season in 3pt shooting at 36%. They went out and got James Jones a career 40% three-point shooter and already have both Chris Quinn and Marcus Banks who both shot nearly 40% from three last season. I also think Chalmers will be decent shooter from three as well from what I heard and saw in summer league.
I think they are set with perimeter shooters to surrounding Wade. Their biggest issue is at Center. They have two very bad players there right now.
Nice review Dannie/Pete. This team is kind of like the Clippers in the East (along with the Bulls), a real wildcard that no one really knows where they will end up. I’m a HUGE Dwyane Wade fan, and think that, when at 100% health, he is one step below (I mean this as a compliment) the Kobe, LeBron, Chris Paul trio rounding out the best 5 players in the league. The Bejing Olympics proved to me he is at, or neat, 100% health…and that should be a wake up call for the NBA.
The one thing I do NOT understand that I constantly read about is trade rumors for Shawn Marion. WHY ON EARTH would the Heat want to actively trade him? I understand wanting to get rid of the contract…but I sincerely doubt Marion is going to command near the 17-18 million he’s making in his end year salary. I see him pulling a Baron Davis, and resigning his last long term contract around $13 million a year. To me, this is well worth it.
Marion’s got a good four years left of prime time ball in him…could there possibly be a better SF combo for a healthy D-Wade than Marion? Let’s look at Marion’s strengths: Great defense…check. Great athleticism…check. Above average 3 pt shooter/midrange shooter…check. Top notch slasher…check. Can slide comfortably between the 3 and 4 spots…check. One of the top rebounders in the league period, and probably #1 for his size…check. Hustle/energy points…check. Plays well with other stars…check.
Do the Heat really want to give up a perennial all star and nice 2nd or 3rd banana on offense just to get draft picks and cap flexibility? Who would they possibly get to replace Marion’s versatility…I just don’t get it. A healthy Wade/Marion combo running the wing spots is flat out scary, and is easily the best SG/SF combo in the NBA (again…IF healthy). Unless Marion proves to be a complete greedy idiot, I’m sure he’d be content with a 4-5 year, $13 a year contract. Why don’t the Heat let him play out half the year and just extend the guy?
That Ben Gordon/L Hughes/J Noah trade is a total joke.