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Eastern Conference Finals Breakdown: Miami vs. Chicago

May 15, 2011 By 2 Comments

Here are some things to watch for as this Eastern Conference Finals series kicks off tonight at 8pm with the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls going head to head for all the marbles.

Matchups

Who will stop Derrick Rose?

Everyone knows that the Bulls are, to put it politely, focused on Derrick Rose. As they should be – he is the league’s MVP for a reason and with the ball in his hands, the Bulls’ success hinges on his decision making. From a defensive standpoint, the Heat want to slow down his decision process, make him hesitate, and force Rose to become one dimensional. That dimension, of course, will be jump shooting and forcing Rose into lower percentage shots. Coach Spoelstra has said he will open up with Mike Bibby guarding Rose but that does not seem like such a smart strategy considering the Heat’s struggles with a Bibby/Ilguaskas anchored starting lineup. Expect the Heat to team defend Rose, with no one player guarding him the entire game. He will get different looks, and will have to face a team that can defend the pick and roll and screen situations better than the Hawks. This is the key to the Heat’s success – limiting Rose’s effectiveness and anytime he does drive to the lane expect plenty of help from Joel Anthony and Chris Bosh. If Rose is effective, expect those two players to get into foul trouble picking up the defensive slack on perimeter mishaps.

Who will win the matchup of Carlos Boozer vs. Chris Bosh?

Neither will be guarding the other for lengthy periods of time. The Heat have a couple of options for defending Boozer – they can go with Joel Anthony or Udonis Haslem if needed. Chris Bosh does not get much credit for his defense of Kevin Garnett, but he should. He limited KG’s effectiveness on offense for most of that series except game 3. On offense, expect Bosh to be defended by Anderson Varajao clone Joachim Noah – an energy player whose game sways with his emotional state. If the Heat, and Bosh, can get to Noah and force him to play in an emotional decline, they will get the upper hand. Most likely, Boozer’s and Bosh’s numbers will cancel each other out. If that is the case, it favors the Heat as they create more matchup problems with a sharp Wade and a confident James leading the charge.

Storylines

Did the Bulls feel dissed by Lebron James choosing the Heat over them?

Reports are a bit back and forth, but it is all hearsay. Still, there is plenty of motivation on the Bulls side to try and prove to the Heat, and to Lebron James, that they made mistakes in not picking Chicago. Essentially, it came down to playing with either Dwyane Wade or Derrick Rose. Although Rose is the league’s MVP, he hasn’t won a title while Wade has and has proven himself to be among the game’s best players. Not to mention, he and Lebron are good friends. So really, the Bulls should have felt they were longshots in winning The Decision sweepstakes. Yet, you get the sense that there is some bad blood there and they have something to prove. The only question is, is that the right kind of motivation to win a series like this? Are they satisfied with winning coach of the year/MVP awards and 60 wins during the regular season? Psychologically, the Heat have the upper hand as they are coming off a series win over the reigning Eastern Conference champs, the Boston Celtics – a team, most forget, beat the Heat in the first round of the playoffs last year 4-1. Now, revenge has been served. Are Wade and Lebron satisfied? Early indications show that for them, it was a moment of great importance but by no means the definition of their season.

Is Rasual Butler plotting revenge against his former team?

C’mon, really? Do I really have to answer this?

Does Carlos Boozer and Chris Bosh have beef with one another?

You bet. Some felt Boozer was a lock to sign with Miami this past offseason. Most feel that there was no way the Heat land James without Bosh. You can see where this is going. Again, a microcosm of the whole Bulls/Heat rivalry in contention for Lebron James’ talents. Whew, glad he came to South Beach and now we get to see why it was such a hot race.

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2010 Free Agency: Building for This Moment

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Miami Heat have quietly been building for this 12:01 July 1st deadline for years. Yes, years. Ever since they won the 2006 title, you could say.

Sure, the Heat fielded a competitive team to try and repeat for 2006-2007 season, but the Bulls had other plans that season, sending the Heat out of the playoffs in the first round. It was clear Miami’s championship runs had finished with that squad. It was, after all, the acquisition of Shaquille O’neal that lead to Miami’s title runs during the mid 2000′s.

Coming off the heals of a successful 2003 campaign that watched a young team built around Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, and a young rookie Dwyane Wade, the Heat pulled the trigger and gambled it all for Shaq. The architect? Pat Riley. In fact, every significant run the Heat franchise has made has been done with Riley’s sleight of hand.

He is why Miami is in the best position to control this off-season with over $45M in salary cap free to spend. The potential of this offseason is also why Riley curiously said that coaching was not something he would rule out – much to Erik Spoelstra’s surprise. Riley also is the reason why Miami is a legit destination for Lebron James; some even go so far as to put Chris Bosh in Miami despite the impossibility of a sign-and-trade.

This is not something that happens without foresight. Pat Riley has had to shrewdly keep in mind this offseason when acquiring players. Take James Jones’ contract. He had an option for over $4.5M – but it was a team option. Riley had to final say on whether or not to extend James’ contract and since they needed the extra cap space, the answer was “no, thanks”.

Daequan Cook is a solid, promising shooter off the bench. His contract, however, got in the way. Riley shipped him off undervalued, to be sure, along with the 18th pick to get out of the first round for the 32nd pick. Clearly no one would make that deal – unless you are Pat Riley and you have a plan.

Now, the plan is a tough one, but one that Riley has been looking forward to for years. He has to re-sign Wade, and to do that he has to convince him Miami is the place to be. Which means, Riley has to make a splash right away – either a sign and trade for Chris Bosh or a straight up signing of either Carlos Boozer or Amare Stoudemire. Toronto has scoffed at the idea of getting Michael Beasley, Mario Chalmers, and Joel Anthony in return for Bosh, but they are open to getting a trade exception (about $16M!) and their first round pick back (which was dealt as part of the Jermaine O’neal deal) so don’t rule them out.

Then, after all of that, King James awaits. Perhaps he stays in Cleveland and nothing happens. But most likely, he is waiting to see how things will shake out. If the Heat can keep Wade, land a marquee power forward, then Riley has everything in place to pull off yet another major acquisition: his biggest yet. Alonzo? Shaq? Drafting Wade? Signing Lebron James just may trump all of those considering all the competition out there – but it wouldn’t have been done without a solid plan and vision in place running on years of creation.

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Add Lamar Odom and Allen Iverson? Why Not?

July 22, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Bill Plaschke seems to be worried about the state of basketball in LA. There is one problem, even though the Lakers are on the clock now for defending the title, LA is not the center of the NBA universe.

I know what you are thinking – they won the title! That makes them center mass in all of this mess.

Really?

Excuse me if I think that contention for a title is not that far away here in Miami – just a few upgrades and the Heat could be in the thick of it. That is the advantage of having a player like Dwyane Wade and one of the reasons why Pat Riley was so quick to add Shaq a few years back. A player of that magnitude can make your team a seasonal contender – depending on who you round out the roster with. There are several teams right now that could make the jump as well.

The Lakers already have their roster practically fixed. They just added Ron Artest, which is a great addition (Artest finally gets to be Rodman, whom was also coached by Phil Jackson). Lamar Odom, however, wants a bigger piece of the pie and feels he deserves to be a larger cog in the system. He was never content with sitting on the bench and coming off the bench – and now the Lakers have added Artest.

Plaschke is right to push the Lakers’ collective attention towards re-signing Odom – he was the difference maker in this run and the reason why the Lakers won the title. Sure, they had Kobe and Pau and a great supporting cast, but Odom quietly was the glue, the final piece of the puzzle that realized the championship in LA. But the Lakers may not see it that way – which is why the door is open for Miami to make that move.

If Lamar really wants to get paid, have fun, and play ball he will take the chance on coming to Miami. He will make relatively the same amount of money here, but will have the added bonus of playing with Dwyane Wade and recapturing that magic they had in 2003-2004. Remember, Riley wasn’t coaching that team so it isn’t as if Odom would demand Riley take over like Shaq did while he was here.

What is more, the Heat should not heed Plaschke’s advice and go after Allen Iverson – if the deal is sensible. Give him a one year deal with a player option. It would be a momentum move if the Heat could land Odom, as AI would sniff a possible power shift in Miami. Iverson is looking to prove himself and would add more firepower to the Heat.

Let’s  not even factor in a possible trade for Boozer – which seems to be shaping up more and more with parting with Michael Beasley.

All and all, addition for the Heat, to its base of Wade, means the Heat have a tremendous shot at contention. Some in the media would have you believe that LA is the only real option for Odom, but Miami offers a strong alternative as well.

Filed Under: Offseason, Rumors Tagged With: , , , ,

Boozer’s Desire to Play in Miami is Transparent; Will It Translate?

July 20, 2009 By 3 Comments

I remember when a friend of mine told me, a few years back, that he has a friend that said Carlos Boozer wants to play in Miami. At first, I dismissed it, but he is the kind of guy that wouldn’t say such things lightly – besides, he’s a fan of another team even though he lives here in sunny Miami. Then again, Boozer plays on another team and he, too, lives here in Miami.

This was, let it be reminded, way before the story started up that Boozer wanted to be here in Miami.

But if we are to look at the true time line, this seed was planted in 2004 when Wade and Boozer played together on the USA Olympic team. Wade was just coming into the spotlight then as a rookie that helped pushed his young team into the playoffs with a scare of the Indiana Pacers in the second round.

Boozer owns a place here in Miami and lives here during the offseason. What’s  not to like? The weather, the water, the lack of a state income tax. The only question is, can Pat Riley put together the right kind of package to get Boozer on the Heat?

The Utah Jazz has the highest team payroll in the NBA at just over $84M. Surprised? Remember that the luxury tax is around $65M and the penalty is a dollar for dollar tax penalty. So the operating cost of the Jazz roster is closer to $100M. That’s incentive to shed Boozer’s contract. So, the reports that the Jazz want to oblige Boozer and trade him away are just short of stating the grass is green and trying to pass it off as news.

So we have a team looking to deal a player and that player has a strong desire to play in Miami. We also have a team on the other side of the coin that would like to see the transaction go through – but also wants to stay clear of any financial entaglements heading into next offseason. Well, the Heat have just that scenario – acquiring Boozer now would mean the Heat would retain Boozer’s “Bird Rights”. The Heat can re-sign Boozer at whatever price they want without affecting the salary cap.

Incentives all around – for Utah, Miami and Boozer.

Boozer is in the final year of his contract which has him slated to make $12.65M this season. The Heat have to match that figure in salary in order to consumate a trade. Who would be the targets?

The Heat have two perfect candidates in Udonis Haslem and Dorell Wright. Wright is owed $2.7M this year, whom the Heat have yet to see a return on their investment and if they land Odom they won’t have a strong need for Wright. Haslem is due $7.1M in the final year of his contract – but would be a tough loss for the Heat as he is the quiet leader willing to do the dirty work to get the win. He is also one of two players left on the roster from the championship team – the other is Dwyane Wade. Together, Haslem and Wright give the Jazz two young players who will be free agents next year and help them clear more space. Together, Haslem and Wright are going to cost $9.8M, which puts the transaction short by about $3M.

If the Heat can find a way to make up the difference, they may have a deal. Then again, other teams may be able to put together better packages. Then again, perhaps the Jazz realize they don’t have to do anything and keep Boozer around until the playoff push comes around and teams start overpaying at the trade deadline in February. Anything can happen and no one knows just yet.

Filed Under: Offseason Tagged With: , , , , ,

Miami Vice: Heat Could Be Adding Lamar Odom and Carlos Boozer

July 18, 2009 By 3 Comments

All of a sudden, the Lamar Odom thing has teeth. The Heat have always wanted to get him back, but remember they had to make that deal to get Shaquille O’neal in the first place. The trade, which netted Shaq for the Heat, also made them an instant NBA force landing their first ever championship in 2006.

There is another player the Heat have long coveted – and the feeling has been mutual for some time now – Carlos Boozer. Boozer has a place in Miami and has personally mentioned to friends and others willing to listen that he wants to play in Miami. He participated in the Zo’s Summer Groove golf tournament and was slated to play in the celebrity game as well.

So the fact is, Pat Riley wants to net both players for his Heat and the speculation does have teeth.

How would such a scenario work? Here we go.

The Lamar Odom thing we broke is real. Right now, the Heat have made an offer and Odom is taking this weekend to ponder it. Just check out ESPN’s take on this. Apparently, there were two offers on the table for Odom from the Lakers – a 3 year deal worth $10M per season, and a 4 year deal worth $36M. One of the concerns fo the Odom camp is that they want a deal extending beyond 3 years. With Florida’s lack of income tax, and the mid level exception available to the Heat, they could favorably match a package that the Lakers are currently offering – about $34M for a 5 year deal.

In fact, the Heat have enlisted some recruiting help from Dwyane Wade. He publicly stated that he wanted Odom “back home”. And according to his latest tweets, Wade is in LA (leaving today at 5am for Ohio, to be at Chris Quinn’s wedding).

carlos_boozer12Carlos Boozer is looking like he will be traded. With the Jazz matching Millsap’s offer, this seems iminent. Pat Riley, speaking to season ticket holders, stated that he is keeping a close eye on Boozer’s status. Again, not mere speculation, but this has teeth. How would it work? The Jazz would be looking for expiring contracts to shed Boozer’s contract and be in a place next season to add a big named free agent – the same thing the Heat are looking to do. This would mean a scenario something like Udonis Haslem, Dorrell Wright, and a third small contract to the Jazz to make the numbers work.

What would this mean? The Heat would instantly have to be respected as a threat in the Eastern Conference. Wade would be inclined to stick around and there is still the possibility that the Heat could add AI just for good measure. You could still keep Michael Beasley and let him develop in the background and bring him off the bench with Odom taking over full time at SF.

To pull off both deals is a long shot, and the Heat would have to convince the Jazz they want to make a deal for Haslem – which would break hearts in Miami as Haslem is a local kid and fan favorite. But at the cost of making this team a contender it would be well worth it.

Filed Under: Offseason, Rumors Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

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