Miami’s X-Factor

Posted in 09/10 Season, HEAT with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 8, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

Jermaine O'Neal 2The Miami Heat are 5-1 for the first time since the 2004-05 season and many are crediting Wade and his stellar performance in the past 6 games. I on the other hand, credit Jermaine O’Neal.

O’Neal is Miami’s X-Factor for many reasons:

First, he establishes a low post presence the Heat have been missing since Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning patrolled the the court. Second, he’s a scoring threat because he not only hits the high percentage shots, but can hit the mid-range jumpers from the corners.

Beyond that, he also seems this season to have something to prove. I believe he wants to show the NBA, and the world, that he’s still got what it takes to be a premier center.

How much of a difference does Jermaine make for the Heat?

Co-Captain Udonis Haslem told SI.com “He makes a ton of difference, anytime you can have an inside presence it makes everybody better, even Dwyane [Wade].”

Agreed, Udonis, JO’s play has elevated even All-Star Dwyane Wade’s game at times.

Jermaine O'Neal DunkSo far this season, O’Neal is logging 31 minutes per game and averaging 15 points and eight rebounds per contest; both slightly higher than his career average.

Unlike the O’Neal who previously donned a Heat uniform, JO hits the mid-range jumper with ease. This makes him a valuable asset and will be crucial in helping Miami make some noise in the Eastern Conference this season.

So far this year O’Neal is leading Miami with a .607 field-goal percentage and is averaging more points than anyone on the team other than Wade. With JO as the second-leading scorer for the Heat, it gives Dwyane some breathing room.

Wade is also getting help from his other teammates, as five other Heat players are averaging in double figures. This clearly isn’t the same Miami team from last season, where Dwyane had to carry the load every single night.

No, this year Wade trusts his teammates more and is passing the ball to them more often to let them take the shot. A year ago he would have simply done it himself, driving to the basket or taking the jumper.

More than anyone, though, Jermaine O’Neal is coming to the aid of Dwyane Wade this year. JO is ready to take on his critics and convince those who doubt him.

To those who said he was too old, or couldn’t play anymore, he wants to send a message; that he isn’t too old, and he can still play.

Some people tend to forget that JO just turned 31 this past October. That’s a year younger than when Shaquille O’Neal came to Miami. If Shaq could help in delivering a title to South Beach at age 33, there’s no reason to believe the younger, and frankly more skilled O’Neal can’t do the same before then.

Jermaine is not the same player he was last season. Last year JO wore two knee braces. From my own personal experience I can tell you that wearing those types of braces restrict your explosiveness and agility.

Case in point? Now that he’s no longer wearing them, O’Neal’s explosiveness and agility are back; which is a very good thing for the Miami Heat.

Wade Workout2O’Neal can thank Dwyane Wade in part for his his new-found youth. Wade recommended O’Neal work out with legendary trainer Tim Grover, the same guy who trained Dwyane Wade himself, along with the likes of Gilbert Arenas and a guy named Michael Jordan.

Grover is known as a guy who can revive a players career, bringing them back from long stretches of not playing basketball.

As Gilbert Arenas put it, “He saved my career.”

When people thought Jordan’s career was over, Grover was the one who helped him win the last three of his six championships with the Bulls; after he’d taken a year off to play baseball.

Any Miami fan knows about him from his work with Wade. After injuries and surgeries to his shoulder and knees, there were questions about whether Dwyane could ever be as explosive as he was during the first few years he was in the league.

O'Neal Jumper

Grover went to the Olympics to begin training Wade, and even worked with him after the Olympics prior to the 2008-2009 NBA season.

What was the result of all that work with Grover?

Oh, nothing more than an MVP-caliber season and a scoring title, along with all of the explosiveness of his youth, that proved Wade was back for good.

Spending the entire summer training with Grover, Jermaine O’Neal seems to be seeing the same results. Everyone is feeling that this time Jermaine is for real.

Some cynics state he’s only now playing well because he wants to get a max contract next year (O’Neal becomes a free agent at the end of the season). They could be right, and that could be part of what is motivating him to do so well, but I’m not sure.

“He’s healthy,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra told SI.com’s Mark Montieth. “The energy, the liveliness you see in his legs, is a residual of the time he put into sweating and working in the summer. He’s allowed us to establish something (inside).”

Dwyane Wade also can’t help but notice the difference O’Neal has been this season: “This is the best Jermaine has played in at least three years,” he told the Miami Herald

Good Enough Ain’t Enough: HEAT Season Preview

Posted in HEAT, NBA, Preview with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

09-10 Slogan

Starting Five:

-          Mario Chalmers

-          Dwyane Wade

-          Michael Beasley

-          Udonis Haslem

-          Jermaine O’Neal

Key Reserves:

-         Jamaal Magloire

-         Daequan Cook

-         Quentin Richardson

-         Carlos Arroyo

-         Yakhouba Diawara

Significant Off-Season Additions:

-         Acquired Quentin Richardson from Timberwolves

-         Signed Free-Agent guard Carlos Arroyo

Significant Off-Season Losses:

-         Lost Jamario Moon to the Cavaliers

Man on the Hot Seat: Michael Beasley

Mike Bealey2The second overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft is in the hottest of seats this season. Coming off the lowest point in his life during the summer at rehab, Beasley is ready to prove the doubters wrong. Beasley averaged 14 points in 25 minutes of play last season as a rookie sixth man. That doesn’t seem like a lot but not many players in the league can produce that much in such a limited role. No matter what people say, Beasley is an enormous part of the Heat and hopefully he can get his act together on and off the court.

Biggest Question:

Can Dwyane Wade produce another MVP type season alone and stay in Miami after this season if that’s the case?

Wade WorkoutI believe Wade has the power to produce another type of season like last season. The problem this time around is will he want to do it alone? This year Michael Beasley and Mario Chalmers are not rookies anymore and Wade should be expecting more help from them. The fact that Beasley was the second overall pick in the 08 Draft makes him a target for success.

Wade has already been public about wanting more help in Miami or else he will bail on them at the end of the season. What will Pat Riley do? Trade for talent? Tell Wade to navigate to storm alone for one more season and help will be on the way? If you listened to Wade over the off-season, he is really serious about this, he is in the prime of his career and he doesn’t want to waste it in a team that will not go back to the Finals. As of right now, The Miami Heat might as well be called the Miami Wade until we see if the rest of the team can help the One Man Band.

09/10 Record: 48-34 (4th East, 2nd Southeast Division)

Playoffs: Eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals by the Cleveland Cavaliers (4-3)

HEAT Sign Carlos Arroyo

Posted in HEAT, Off-Season Buzz with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 13, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

Carlos arroyoAccording to heat.com, The Miami HEAT annouced today that they have signed Carlos Arroyo to a One-Year 1.1 Million dollar deal. Really? We sign Arroyo but not Tinsley? Arroyo, 6’2”, 200 pounds, has appeared in 433 regular season NBA games (113 starts) and averaged 7.0 points, 3.3 assists and 1.7 rebounds in 18.2 minutes while shooting 43.2 percent from the field, 31.8 percent from three-point range and 80.1 percent from the foul line. Arroyo has spent his seven-year NBA career with Toronto, Denver, Utah, Detroit and most recently the Orlando Magic. according to HEAT.com,Arroyo started his colligate career in Miami at Florida International University, he became just the second player in school history to score at least 1,600 career points. He finished his FIU career setting school records with 459 assists and 177 steals. He also ranked second in school history in three-point field goals made (174), third in field goals made (562) and third in free throws made (302).

For you people at are interested, Arroyo will wear number 8 previously used by Antoine Walker and Shaun Livingston.

Now, here are my two cents about this. Miami needed depth at point guard, and team officials met Saturday to discuss a number of potential candidates. They settled on Arroyo, why? I don’t know, but coach Erik Spoelstra has been told he has been brought in to play backup to starter Mario Chalmers. Why don’t we trust that Chris Quinn can play solid backup? Now Miami has 4 point guards in its roster. Mario Chalmers, Chris Quinn, Carlos Arroyo, and John Lucas III. Lucas III Carlos Arroyo2and Arroyo’s contract are not guaranteed but they were invited to pre-season. Lucas seems on his way out, I don’t like the way he has been playing and it seems that with the Aroyo acquisition, Lucas III could possibly be on his way out.

One interesting thing i found on the NBA website, Arroyo played for Puerto Rico in the 2004 Olympic Games, scoring a team-high 24 points for his country when it stunned the United States 92-73 in an opening-round game. That’s pretty neat I would say.

I don’t hate him, I just liked Jamaal Tisley better. I hope he can prove me wrong. What do you guys think?

Oh boy here we go again…

Posted in HEAT, Off-Season Buzz with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 23, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

The Miami Heat are on the verge of signing two free agents for training camp. That should be good news, but when you look at the players, you understand why it’s not. Miami will offer a contract to attend training camp to point guard John Lucas III, and forward Shavlik Randolph. Here’s my beef with these guys, what happened to “not getting a point guard via free-agency and getting one via trade”? So you are telling me that we can sign some nobody, but can’t sign Jamaal Tinsley?

In 2005 Lucas signed a contract to play with the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Summer League team. The Timberwolves also signed him to their training camp roster. In the regular season, Lucas was a member of the Houston Rockets for two games before being waived. Later in 2006, Lucas signed with Snaidero Udine of the Italian League. After a month or so, Lucas again signed with the Rockets to a three-year contract. On October 30, 2007, Lucas was one of four players cut from the Rockets’ roster. He then returned to Italian basketball, joining Benetton Treviso. He was then later released by Treviso during that same 2007-08 season. Lucas was signed by the Oklahoma City Thunder in September 2008, and he was released by them in November before playing in any NBA games for them. Well on the bright side, he did win a championship.. NBA D-League Championship that is..

That’s the kind of player Pat Riley wants to keep Dwyane Wade happy? If I was Wade, I would go into Riley’s office and ask him to sign Jamaal Tinsley, no questions asked.

And what’s the deal with this other player Shavlik Randolph? Has Pat Riley gone mad? This guy, Shavlik Randolph, is a forward.. Didn’t we already discuss this in a previous post on how half of out roster are forwards? Why do we need another forward? just in case our other five get hurt?

Randolph went undrafted in the 2005 NBA Draft, but, was signed to a free-agent contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. Randolph broke his ankle in 2006, in an accident during practice. On September 25, 2008, Randolph was signed to a non-guaranteed free-agent contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. His first game with the Blazers was played 38 games into the season, on January 14, 2009 against his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers. Randolph had 4 points in only 4 minutes of play. The Blazers did not resign him and he became a free agent.

Miami doesn’t need players of that caliber in their team. They are trying to build, at least i think, a championship team to support Dwyane Wade on his quest to win his second tittle. With players like this, Miami will not accomplish that goal and will eventually be left scratching their heads when Wade leaves in 2010 to sign with the Bulls.

The Point Guard Dilemma

Posted in HEAT, Off-Season Buzz, Off-Season Trade Rumors with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 20, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

Miami, we have a problem. Well, sort of.

“Super” Mario Chalmers was nothing short of amazing last season. He started in all 82 games for the Heat and averaged 10 PPG, and 5 APG. Chris Quinn, a 3-year veteran, was Chalmers’ main back-up support for most of the season. Quinn himself did a terrific job backing Chalmers up. He averaged 5 PPG and 2 APG in 66 appearances with the Heat. If you think back to training camp last year, coach Spoelstra said that Chris Quinn was probably going to get the starting job in the backcourt with all-star Dwyane Wade. That wasn’t the case; Chalmers somehow beat him for the starting bit and was talented enough to keep Quinn in the backup role. A role, none the less, that is very important. Just the year before, during thenightmare season of 15 wins, the brightest spot was Quinn. He started in 25 games and averaged over 8 PPG and 3 APG. Coming off such an impressive season just in his second year, Spoelstra was ready to give him the reigns to the offence, but then, Chalmers began to impress. If you remember correctly, the first depth chart was as follows: Chris Quinn, Marcus Banks, and Mario Chalmers… Then, it was Marcus Banks, Chris Quinn and Mario Chalmers.

Here’s my beef with the Heat right now. No offence to Chalmers or Quinn, I love them both.  But, we need another point guard. We need someone who can be a scoring threat as much as a defensive wall. We need someone like Gary Payton, or, Jason Williams. If we could find someone with the defensiveness of The Glove, and the scoring threat of The White Chocolate, we would have the greatest point guard ever. Hey wait a minute; I think I know a guy, how about Allen Iverson? Oh wait, he’s with the Grizzlies now. Okay, well there’s a decent one out there called Jamaal Tinsley, I’m sure we can get him; he would come cheap and will be a good addition to our point guard repertoire. But no, Pat Riley says he is not interested in adding a point guard via free-agency. Alright, so let’s trade with the Nets. Let’s give them D-Wright and Yakhouba Diawara for ex-Heat guards Rafer Alston and Keyon Dooling.Wouldn’t that be a sweet reunion? Alston has a 5.25-mil expiring contract so he’s perfect for Riley’s plan and then we can just deal Dooling away. We all know that Riley has questioned Dooling’s basketball IQ so I’m not sure he would like to try him out again. But as for Alston, he would do it in a heartbeat.

What do you guys think? I am really found of that Heat-Nets trade. Anyone have a better trade scenario?

Summer To Remember?

Posted in HEAT, NBA, Off-Season Buzz with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 18, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

The Miami Heat open its 22nd season on October 28, 2009; that’s 39 days away. What has the Heat done this off-season to prove to the league that they belong in the conversation as one of the elite teams in the east? Nothing at all, the biggest stories coming this off-season about the Heat have been, Michael Beasley’s rehab (we all hope he is doing well), and Dwyane Wade’s rant on how he wants better teammates to compete for a title (I don’t blame him. If I was him, I would be very frustrated right about now), and the pay-cut Pat Riley and the rest of the staff received.  In other news on the Heat, Miami almost made a huge splash in the off-season pool by almost acquiring Lamar Odom (but if you don’t know, almost only works in horse-shoe games, and hand grenades). They there was the rumor of Miami trading Udonis Haslem and Mark Blount to the Utah Jazz for the All-Star forward Carlos Boozer… That didn’t happen. Then we had talks about Iverson… He’s in Memphis now.  That’s the problem with off-seasons, that’s why sometimes I love them and sometimes I loathe them.  Don’t think that Pat Riley doesn’t see all the other teams in the east get an upgrade, the Orlando Magic acquired Vince Carter from the Nets, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Shaquille O’Neal from theSuns,the Detroit Pistons acquired Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon via free agency, the Washington Wizards acquired Randy Foye and Mike Miller from the Timberwolves, the Boston Celtics acquired Rasheed Wallace via free agency, and even the Charlotte Bobcats made a significant trade by acquiring Tyson Chandler from the New Orleans Hornets. So my question is simple, what has he done to keep up with them?

Acording to Erik Spoelstra, having Jermaine O’Neal and Dorell Wright back in full health is like “signing two key free agents”… as much as I respect J-O and DWright, I don’t think that’s a fair statement by Coach Spo. The only thing Miami did this offseason was acquire Quentin Richardson from the Timberwolves for Mark Blount. Big trade there… expecially when it’s the third time Richardson was traded this off-season. Why does Miami need another forward in the line-up? We already have Joel Anthony, Michael Beasley, Yakhouba Diawara, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, and Dorell Wright. That’s six players out of the 13 players currently on the roster. Sure, Anthony can play center, but he is still a forward. Now we add Q-Rich to the mix, how is this going to play out? I’m not even sure Erik Spoelstra knows what he is going to do with an abundance of forwards.

I hope that Pat Riley has something up his Armani sleeves when it comes to trading for a guard… we need one desperately. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn are great, don’t get me wrong. But we need a veteran point guard that can come in and close a game… Jamaal Tinsley seems like a good fit… Riley says he isn’t interested. Bonzi Wells has also expressed interest in playing for Miami (via Twitter none the less) but Riley, again, isn’t interested. Let’s all hope and have faith that Pat Riley knows what he is doing. Remember, he has re-built the Heat franchise many times from the ground, this could be another one of his great works, let’s just wait and see.

The biggest, most important question of 2010

Posted in HEAT, NBA, Off-Season Buzz with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 12, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

2vxnes8To leave or not to leave? That is the question the NBA Scoring Champion has been asking himself this offseason.

When asked by the Daily Herald if Chicago is his future destination Wade replied, “If I disclose that kind of information, the articles this season aren’t as exciting anymore, speculation is not the same. You guys ain’t going to have nothing to talk about me.” If you were to read around this quote, it seems as if the Heat’s all-star guard may stay in Miami after all.

Just because Wade didn’t sign a contract extenssion this summer, it doesn’t mean he is leaving his beloved Heat; “I love what it stands for, from the owner Mickey Arison on down. It’s a first class organization. We’ve had some good times in Miami. I love the weather. It’s become home for me for the past six years”.

As us Heat fans and sports journalist wait and see what will happen in this 2010 free-angency extravaganza one has to wonder, what if all Wade is doing is a bluff? What if he and Pat Riley already have contract for next year ready? What if this “contract extrenssion” that Riley sent to Wade this off-season was in reality the contract offer Wade will recieve next season?

There are so many questions one can ask about the future. But in the words of Dwyna Wade himself “You can’t always think about the ‘what if’” So yes, I belive Wade will stay here in Miami and win some more championships. Now, if that one quote by Wade isn’t enough that he may just stay in Miami, this one might do the trick, “Hey, it’s not my fault Miami drafted me at No. 5 (in 2003) and Chicago did not move up (from No. 7).”

Ouch, if I was the Bulls GM i would take that a bit personally.

Seems like this season won’t “B-Easy” like we thought

Posted in HEAT, Off-Season Buzz, Off-Season Trade Rumors with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 24, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

Beasley Back Tatoo

“Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done”

“I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin”

Those tweets came from Michael Beasley’s second twitter account this summer.

The second overall draft pick in the 2008 NBA Draft has checked in a rehab center in Houston this past weekend. It is unclear as to why he checked in, but, reports suggest that he is here for psychological reasons. Other reports say it’s for drug abuse. No one is 100% sure, not even his own mother or his agent, “From what I know, he was just getting ready for the upcoming season,” Shingler said. “The last time I talked to him, everything was going well. All this rehab and all that, I was totally unaware. It all started as he wanted to go work out in a different place because he wanted to get away. Now this, I don’t know what’s going on.”

The 20-year old rookie sensation has had problems with marijuana before, and ESPN The Magazine Sr. Writer, Chris Broussard says “No one in the league is surprised”. And I too am not surprised at all. His use of marijuana was well-known. Many teams knew about it before the draft, but as Chris Broussard said “He was talented enough that most teams would have done what the Heat did and drafted him.”  If you remember, Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA in September after security officers at the league’s rookie symposium detected the scent of marijuana in a hotel room occupied by Beasley, Mario Chalmers, Darrell Arthur, and two women.

We as fans don’t understand the personal issues many of these players are facing. Grant Stern, A fan on my facebook page, wrote “i can tell you the reason… he’s a kid, has a lot of pressure and responsibility. he can’t walk out his front door without attracting attention and everyone wants something from him. and he’s 20!…” and I agree with him 100%. Beasley told The AP in January that there were times during his first six months as a professional that he felt everyone was against him. The pressure that Beasley was facing must be horrible. Think about it in his point of view. The NBA was a humbling experience for him. He was the best college player in the country the year before. People were telling him how he would go 1st in the draft and he was going to win the Rookie of the Year award. People were branding him into the savior of a franchise. Then, he was drafted second overall, he starts for a while and later is benched for the rest of season and had a lesser role. Erik Spoelsra preached that Beasley would get more minutes if he would make his defense better. He did, and still, he was on the bench.

Beasley got a lot better in his defense, and at the same time, his offense was red hot. He was Miami’s second-leading scorer behind Dwyane Wade, averaging 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds.

Both Spoeltra and Riley talked often this summer about using Beasley more this upcoming season as a small forward and a power forward. “Beas, we hope that we’re going to see a lot of him at the 3 spot” Riley would say. Not only Riley would talk about him, but his teammate Dwyane Wade said, “The guy’s got a lot of talent,” Wade said. “I can’t wait to see what he does with it. He’s 20 years old. I’d love to see it all come together this year.”

There is also the business side of the story. Beasley’s name had been mentioned in trade talks this summer. Some in with the Heat actually included him in the deal. This, is defiantly going to hurt his trade value even more. There’s no way around it. Regardless of what your side you choose to be on you have to feel bad for this 20 year old boy. You can hate him, tell people that his career in Miami is over. Or, you can support him in all the adversities and hope we will see him this upcoming season.

I am guilty for at first hating on Michael Beasley. I am sorry for that. After I carefully analyzed the situation, the more I felt bad for this kid. I feel bad because of the reasons I stated above, I feel bad because he has such a great career ahead of him and it’s sad to see a player of that caliber go down.


HEAT Acquire Quentin Richardson

Posted in HEAT with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

hpg0910_richardson_090814_5Finally! A significant off-season move for Pat Riley and the Miami HEAT. People in HEAT Nation were waiting for this moment more than the Boston Celtics were waiting to win the championship.

The Heat, making their first significant move of the summer, acquire guard/forward Quentin Richardson from the Timberwolves. In return, the T-Wolves get a reunion with center Mark Blount.

Blount, a 9-year NBA Veteran, was acquired by the HEAT along with Ricky Davis from the Timberwolves on Oct. 24, 2007 in exchange for Antoine Walker, Michael Doleac, Wayne Simien and a conditional first-round draft choice. In two seasons with the HEAT, Blount appeared in 89 games (46 starts) and averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 19.7 minutes while shooting 45.2 percent from the floor, 39.4 percent from three-point range and 63.6 percent from the foul line.

I believe this is the final stop for Q-Rich this summer. His summer started by being dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies in a draft night trade for Darko Milicic. Later, he was subsequently dealt to the Los Angeles Clippers on July 17 for Zach Randolph and then to the Timberwolves on July 20 for Mark Madsen, Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair. Talk about change of scenery. Do remember, he ended the season with the New York Knicks.

Pat Riley said it best, “Over the course of his career, he has proven to be a fierce competitor, a great locker room presence and a very prolific three-point shooter who may be one of the strongest perimeter players in the NBA. We feel that he will be able to match-up well against the top scorers in the league.”

I agree, this trade was a steal for us. We traded a seldom used Mark Blount for a very high caliber player in Q-Rich. This is basically payback for us from 2007 when we were robbed by the T-Wolves.

HEAT Nation and myself are not the only ones celebrating this acquisition… “Who would of ever thought we would play 2gether. Let’s get it,” Wade wrote on his Twitter feed today. YES! Wade is happy (for now). The next thing that will make him happy should be getting Allen Iverson… but you didn’t hear that from me.

After all the commotion, Odom remains in LA… Where does that leave Miami and Wade? What’s next?

Posted in HEAT with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 8, 2009 by Pedro Heizer

LamarOdomIf you are a pessemist, you might as well call this up-coming season a “waste”, or you may as well say that the star of the team after this season will be Michael Beasley.

The great thing is, I’m not that person.

Sure, Miami didn’t get Lamar Odom (one of the best free agents on the market), but we are looking at other options. Tinsley wants to join Miami, Riley might push a little harder for Carlos Boozer or Allen Iverson.. Who knows? the possibilities are endless. I don’t want to see the true blue Heat fans like myself to be depressed over this little bump on the road.

You all know Pat Riley is a genius! He has the teams best intention in mind. I’m telling you, Riley will surprise us all. Maybe, we now will sign Iverson? Who knows? All I know is that if we don’t do something, we may lose Dwyane Wade after this season (then we can all cry and be depressed).

So, what’s next for the Heat and it’s fans? I can honestly say I have no clue. Miami has canceled it’s meeting with Jamaal Tinsley saying they are “regrouping” after Odom remained with the Lakers. Riley has also said he didn’t like the way Boozer handled the questions about coming to Miami… But, he did reach out to Iverson again…

I’m going to play a game right now called “If I was Pat Riley for a day” and I will say what I would do if I was the genius that is Pat Riley.

1) I would call Utah. I would make them an offer that they can’t refuse. Udonis Haslem, Dorrell Wright, and Mark Blount for Carlos Boozer and a player to be named.

2) I would call Allen Iverson. Call him to Miami and have a long conversation that would go something like this. Allen, I really want you in Miami. You would be a great addition to our team. There is one thing you should know right off the bat though, you will compete for the starting job when training camp opens, you are not automatically going to be the starting point guard. We will give you the best chance from the teams you are talking to (New York, Memphis) to compete for a championship. Take it or leave it.

3) Fax Wade a contract extension knowing he most likely will not sign it, I would then make another offer for another top player.

Now, I know that my scenario is one that would be perfect. But in a normal world, I would gladly take A.I and that would be enough to make the MV3 happy (for now).

What are your thoughts on the situation? who will Miami sign? Tell me what you think!