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Beasley Traded to Timberwolves
Just in time for a new era to begin. Out with the old, in with the new.
The #2 pick in the NBA 2008 draft was Michael Beasley. He never lived up to the hype and expectations here in Miami, but the ceiling is still very high for him. The Heat, even though reports were they wanted to keep him, are in the mode they were in during the 2004 offseason – rounding out a roster built to win a championship.
In order to do that, the Heat need more cap space. Sure, the commitment of Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh is historic and epic in nature, but their contracts will be, too. Despite the talk of taking less money.
As it stands, all three players can sign for $16.6M contracts for this season which puts the Heat at $49.8M. Including Mario Chalmers’ contract $847K) that puts the Heat’s bill at about $50.6M. The salary cap has been determined to be $58M (a bit higher than some of the lower estimates of $52M), which means the trade of Beasley was meant to free up cap space primarily.
The Heat will also get Minnesota’s 2nd round pick in 2011, and an undisclosed first round pick.
So what’s next? The Heat had a contract offer in place for Mike Miller which, apparently, the Heat wanted a decision by midnight tonight (also sparking some to think the Heat new they were going to land Lebron). If Miller signs, the Heat will acquire a shooter which both the Heat need and one that Riley has coveted for some time. There is talk of backup options consisting of ex-Heat shooters Rasual Butler, Jason Kapono, or even maybe a return of James Jones (who is already counting $1.5M against this year’s cap putting the Heat, unofficially, at $52.1M).
2010 Free Agency: Building for This Moment
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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Rumor Mill: Bosh to Heat a Done Deal?
So this is what the Heat get for that Juwan Howard fiasco – a karmic payback in the sign and trade of Chris Bosh. Latest reports swirling around the internet is that the Heat are shipping Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley, and Joel Anthony (a Canadian) to the Raptors for Chris Bosh.
Call me crazy, but I’m not buying it.
Remember back in the offseason of ‘96 when Juwan Howard became the first player to sign a $100M contract? It was on TV and everything. There was Juwan Howard, holding a Heat jersey and all smiles. Then, the NBA rejected the contract, stated that the Heat miscalculated how much money they had to spend against the cap and poof! Howard was back in Washington where he claimed he “always wanted to be”. The Heat were going to pursue litigation but then dropped the charges (boy, there is a story there, huh?).
One of the things about these rumors is that they cannot be validated. Why? Tampering. No player or official can comment on free agency or trades because, well, the NBA has mandated that nothing is allowed until after the July 1st moratorium deadline. So, 12 hours from now – wait and see what hits the blogosphere.
But if any team wants to get the inside track on Lebron, getting Chris Bosh would garner his attention. The Heat need to keep Dwyane Wade and getting Chris Bosh would be a nice way to start the offseason. With Bosh in house, the Heat could lock down Wade and then turn their attention to getting Lebron James. I still think Lebron is going to be one of the last ones to sign – he is going to wait this out and see how things shake out. Getting Bosh may give a franchise the significant leg up it needs to land the King.
We’ll try and sort things out on our twitter feed: Miamiheatwave@twitter
James Jones Bought Out
The Sun-Sentinel is reporting that James Jones’ contract has been bought out. This means the Heat will not have to have his $4.65M on the books, but instead it will only count as $1.5M against the Heat’s payroll freeing up still even more buying power for the Heat.
The max contract that can be offered for free agents is $16.6M. Currently, the Heat only have Michael Beasley ($4.9M) and Mario Chalmers ($847K) on the books. They had a payroll of about $72M last season, which leaves basically $66M free to field a team.
The Plot Thickens: Lebron, Bosh, and Wade Forming New Trinity?
The Triad. The Trinity. El Tri. The Tre. Soon, Heat fans may be testing out new phrases to describe what could potentially be one of the biggest offseasons in any franchise’s history. Not only would the Heat be keeping Dwyane Wade around, but they could be adding Lebron James and Chris Bosh.
Now look, it isn’t even July 1st yet. And in all likelihood, James will drag this thing on as long as he can to make sure he gets precisely what he wants out of the biggest choice in his life. As the Clash would ask, should he stay or should he go? All signs point to a departure, but one that makes sense. Sorry, New York doesn’t make any sense at all. Chicago? If you think Derrick Rose is better than Dwyane Wade – which he’s clearly not. But if you believe what you see on BSPN, they would have you think a deal with Chicago is done. They cite the draft night trade of Kurt Hinrich as a savy move to free up cap space to sign Lebron and Chris Bosh.
Funny, the Heat had done that days before with the Daequan Cook deal which had the Heat trade out of the first round (18th pick) into the 2nd round (32nd pick).
Plus, the Heat still have an asset in Michael Beasley that could potentially be dangled out there to create a sign-and-trade possibility for the Raptors. The former #2 pick has big offensive upside and is even showing some maturity in that he has committed to summer training when all the draftees and young players show up. Usually it is reserved for 2nd year players or younger – Beasley is entering his 3rd season.
Despite what Stephen A. Smith might claim, this could still fall apart. The Heat may have over $44M to make a deal and there was a rumor that reported the three met in Miami to discuss a way to split the money and structure their contracts. This rumor has since been refuted.
Again, you can’t believe everything you read and hear over the next week or so. Free agency begins this Thursday, and Lebron James will make the final say – not any of his entourage, his mother, or the supposed genius of William Wesley (which just sounds like a made up internet figure).
Miami is in contention for both Lebron James and for Chris Bosh. There are still many details to iron out and things that have yet to take shape. Miami would be a logical choice for Lebron – and if there is to be a holy basketball trinity, there will have to be some things put in place to lure him to sign here and play alongside Dwyane Wade and possibly, Chris Bosh.
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