It's official the NBA season is finally over! The Miami Heat won the 2012-13 NBA Finals by beating the San Antonio Spurs. Now it's time to get to the good part, like Whodini. Some of you will get that reference, but anyway. Free agency is upon us and everyone is waiting to see where some of the top free agent players are going to end up such as Dwight Howard and Chris Paul. Quite frankly, I could care less where Dwight Howard ends up after all of his drama in Orlando and all his whining in LA. CP3 will be back in LA as a Clipper, I'm sure of that, especially after they acquired Doc Rivers as the coach. What peaks my interest is how will the Heat get better in the offseason to try for the Threepeat next year?
I believe two things have to happen in order for them to win their third championship next season. First, they have to get rid of all that dead weight on the bench. I believe that veterans bring experience to help the team on and off the court, but the Heat are heavy with veterans that are one dimensional players and if they want to compete with the Pacers and a healthy Danny Granger, a change has to be made. Mike Miller may have hit some three point shots in the playoffs, but other than that he can't move due to his continuous back problems. He never was a good defender, but if he's going to be out on the floor next season he has to contribute some on the defensive end, especially with D. Wade's knees deteriorating.
Juwan Howard is a no brainer that he won't be playing for them next year, but it's good to see that he has accepted the transition to assistant coach or administration as his next career move and judging by the Riley Family loyalty he will have a position with the Heat for years to come. James Jones and Rashad Lewis were collecting garbage minutes throughout the season and playoffs, so I would be surprised if they were on the team next year. Lewis was collecting a million from the Heat and another 14 million from the Magic this season for the amnesty move they made in releasing him. It must be nice to get 15 million to sit the bench and collect a ring. Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier have some miles on them, but now with five rings between them (3-Haslem, 2-Battier) they may have some trade value to some teams trying to go the veteran leadership for youth trade move. Moving those two players would free up eight million in cap room.
But let's talk about the elephant in the room and that is Chris Bosh's lackluster performance throughout the playoffs and the big man lesson he received from Tim "Big Fundamentals" Duncan. I hadn't seen that kind of dominance at the center position since Hakeem Olajuwon put it on both David Robinson and Patrick Ewing in the 93-94 NBA playoffs. It was no question after his zero point performance in game 7 that Bosh became the expendable member of the Big Three, but will the Heat front office pull the trigger or will his boys step up in his defense and say he goes, we go. Bosh is due 19 million next season and that could buy a lot of groceries for the Heat's winning recipe, which doesn't call for a lame duck. He is basically making money, because he's Lebron's and Wade's friend as far as I'm concern. There are several players on the free agency list that could bring more to the table than Bosh like Allen Jefferson and Paul Milsap.
July 1st will be here soon enough and the fireworks will begin. Let's see who gets the bang for their bucks or who buys a bunch of duds. Right now, only two out of the three fireworks the Heat bought have exploded.
I believe two things have to happen in order for them to win their third championship next season. First, they have to get rid of all that dead weight on the bench. I believe that veterans bring experience to help the team on and off the court, but the Heat are heavy with veterans that are one dimensional players and if they want to compete with the Pacers and a healthy Danny Granger, a change has to be made. Mike Miller may have hit some three point shots in the playoffs, but other than that he can't move due to his continuous back problems. He never was a good defender, but if he's going to be out on the floor next season he has to contribute some on the defensive end, especially with D. Wade's knees deteriorating.Juwan Howard is a no brainer that he won't be playing for them next year, but it's good to see that he has accepted the transition to assistant coach or administration as his next career move and judging by the Riley Family loyalty he will have a position with the Heat for years to come. James Jones and Rashad Lewis were collecting garbage minutes throughout the season and playoffs, so I would be surprised if they were on the team next year. Lewis was collecting a million from the Heat and another 14 million from the Magic this season for the amnesty move they made in releasing him. It must be nice to get 15 million to sit the bench and collect a ring. Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier have some miles on them, but now with five rings between them (3-Haslem, 2-Battier) they may have some trade value to some teams trying to go the veteran leadership for youth trade move. Moving those two players would free up eight million in cap room.
But let's talk about the elephant in the room and that is Chris Bosh's lackluster performance throughout the playoffs and the big man lesson he received from Tim "Big Fundamentals" Duncan. I hadn't seen that kind of dominance at the center position since Hakeem Olajuwon put it on both David Robinson and Patrick Ewing in the 93-94 NBA playoffs. It was no question after his zero point performance in game 7 that Bosh became the expendable member of the Big Three, but will the Heat front office pull the trigger or will his boys step up in his defense and say he goes, we go. Bosh is due 19 million next season and that could buy a lot of groceries for the Heat's winning recipe, which doesn't call for a lame duck. He is basically making money, because he's Lebron's and Wade's friend as far as I'm concern. There are several players on the free agency list that could bring more to the table than Bosh like Allen Jefferson and Paul Milsap.
July 1st will be here soon enough and the fireworks will begin. Let's see who gets the bang for their bucks or who buys a bunch of duds. Right now, only two out of the three fireworks the Heat bought have exploded.
No comments:
Post a Comment