Why did Miami get rid of Beasley for Haslem?

[Mike-Dub]

Haslem is a proven player already and miami wants to win now and not wait on beasley to get his act straight

I don't think Miami can win now anyway.  Beasley is the better player now and in a couple years he will be a much better player.

What do you mean by "better", though?

Haslem is the better rebounder and defender (by a wide margin), and he's a tough player who has his head on straight and who is a leader on and off the court.  Haslem is also a more efficient player.

Sure, Beasley scores about 5 more points per 36 minutes, but scoring isn't what the Heat needs.

I think he just means more talented and has more potential.

He's only more talented when it comes to scoring, though, which is the one skill the Heat have in abundance.  They need defense and toughness, not scoring.

That's very true.  Haslem is more talented in defense, scoring, and rebounding.  His offensive game is not though, but the Heat don't need that right now, they need players like Haslem.

If the Heat want to make another good signing instead of trying to sign T-Mac they should sign Jerry Stackhouse who I've heard is interested in going there.  

[mgent]

Haslem is a proven player already and miami wants to win now and not wait on beasley to get his act straight

I don't think Miami can win now anyway.  Beasley is the better player now and in a couple years he will be a much better player.

What do you mean by "better", though?

Haslem is the better rebounder and defender (by a wide margin), and he's a tough player who has his head on straight and who is a leader on and off the court.  Haslem is also a more efficient player.

Sure, Beasley scores about 5 more points per 36 minutes, but scoring isn't what the Heat needs.

I think he just means more talented and has more potential.

He's only more talented when it comes to scoring, though, which is the one skill the Heat have in abundance.  They need defense and toughness, not scoring.

Considering Miami's bench is still pretty empty, I don't think more scoring would hurt.  Beasley's main appeal is that he would have been a potential 4th all star to go with the other 3 in the future once Miami has spent a couple MLE's on a PG and C and they have that toughness and defense.  Not saying this move hurt them, I just don't see why they would trade their #2 pick for a 2nd rounder and use that money for a guy who probably won't ever be better than a good role player.

[Roy Hobbs]

Haslem is a proven player already and miami wants to win now and not wait on beasley to get his act straight

I don't think Miami can win now anyway.  Beasley is the better player now and in a couple years he will be a much better player.

What do you mean by "better", though?

Haslem is the better rebounder and defender (by a wide margin), and he's a tough player who has his head on straight and who is a leader on and off the court.  Haslem is also a more efficient player.

Sure, Beasley scores about 5 more points per 36 minutes, but scoring isn't what the Heat needs.

I think he just means more talented and has more potential.

He's only more talented when it comes to scoring, though, which is the one skill the Heat have in abundance.  They need defense and toughness, not scoring.

Considering Miami's bench is still pretty empty, I don't think more scoring would hurt.  Beasley's main appeal is that he would have been a potential 4th all star to go with the other 3 in the future once Miami has spent a couple MLE's on a PG and C and they have that toughness and defense.  Not saying this move hurt them, I just don't see why they would trade their #2 pick for a 2nd rounder and use that money for a guy who probably won't ever be better than a good role player.

I've got to think that Miami seems him as a bonehead who doesn't get it.  That was the knock on him in high school and college, and it's followed him to the pros.

Beasley is tremendously talented, but Miami tried to move him repeatedly, and couldn't get more than a couple of future second rounders.  That tells you all you need to know about his reputation.

For a rebuilding team like Minnesota, gambling on Beasley's immense talent makes sense.  For Miami, though, I think they have all the star power they need.  Their focus is better spent on putting together a bunch of guys who "fit" now.

[pearljammer10]

Did you really ask this question?

Haslem is an incredible role player that was a significant piece of a championship team. He is an incredible role player and would fit on any championship caliber perfectly.

Beasley is an underachieving, rehab going, drug addict that has terrible work ethic. Not the type of player you want on a team that has a goal of a championship.

Haslem knows his role and plays it incredibly, Beasley has the mind set of being a superstar. With three superstars already on the team they dont need Beasley trying to steal the show.

[SCBirdman]

Because Beasley sucks and Haslem is a solid veteran guy who plays his role.

[sk7326]

they dealt Beasley for the cap relief - period.  Got enough room to get the three whatevers under the cap.  They did leave some money on the table so the rest of the team could be stocked with non-stiffs.  Frankly, they needed Mike Miller more than Michael Beasley, and the Beasley trade allowed them to get Miller.  Haslem was not under their control - and I don't think they could find a sign and trade partner for him that would not want to ship a player back. 

Beasley is still a very valuable commodity - the Timberwolves correctly got very excited at getting a guy with his upside for nothing.

[Moranis]

Beasley was the far better player in the playoffs against the C's.  Haslem was a complete and utter non-factor and given his age he is going in the downward direction.  Beasley on the otherhand is 21 and going in the positive direction.  I'd much rather have Beasley next year and every year thereafter.

[moiso]

Haslem is the kind of dirty work guy the Heat need to surround their big 3.
Another reason I don't think anyone mentioned is that Beasley will be looking for a much bigger payday after this year.

[Fafnir]

Beasley was the far better player in the playoffs against the C's.  Haslem was a complete and utter non-factor and given his age he is going in the downward direction.  Beasley on the otherhand is 21 and going in the positive direction.  I'd much rather have Beasley next year and every year thereafter.

6 points and 7 rebounds wasn't nothing. Beasley only got 10 and 6 in roughly the same minutes. Haslem shot very poorly against us but overall he played at roughly the same level as Beasley.

Also Haslem is wired much better to be a role player for a championship caliber team who doesn't get many shots, and was more valuable over the course of the regular season.

[Moranis]

Beasley was the far better player in the playoffs against the C's.  Haslem was a complete and utter non-factor and given his age he is going in the downward direction.  Beasley on the otherhand is 21 and going in the positive direction.  I'd much rather have Beasley next year and every year thereafter.

6 points and 7 rebounds wasn't nothing. Beasley only got 10 and 6 in roughly the same minutes. Haslem shot very poorly against us but overall he played at roughly the same level as Beasley.

Also Haslem is wired much better to be a role player for a championship caliber team who doesn't get many shots, and was more valuable over the course of the regular season.

Beasley had nearly twice the PER and was far more officient offensively.  

Beasley is a much better passer as well and I'm not sure where the notion that Haslem is much better defender comes from, Haslem is an average defender and nothing special.  Haslem is a better rebounder (though not by a lot and most of it is a function of Beasley playing more on the perimeter), but that is about it.  At PF, Beasley has a better PER differential then his opponent according to 82games.com at 1.6 while Haslem is 1.4 and again Beasley is only going to get better.

If we had cap room I would have loved getting Beasley.  The man is going to be very good and Miami will regret dumping him for scraps, even if it means they don't get Mike Miller. 

[Fafnir]

Beasley had nearly twice the PER and was far more officient offensively.

Beasley's PER higher basically because he shot better, over the season it was 2 points higher because he shot a lot more than Haslem. Haslem has a much higher offensive win score.

Haslem isn't a great defender, but Beasley is a very bad one. Beaseley also is the type of player who needs shots to stay involved in the game at all. How many shots was he going to get on this new Heat team?

[Moranis]

Beasley had nearly twice the PER and was far more officient offensively.

Beasley's PER higher basically because he shot better, over the season it was 2 points higher because he shot a lot more than Haslem. Haslem has a much higher offensive win score.

Haslem isn't a great defender, but Beasley is a very bad one. Beaseley also is the type of player who needs shots to stay involved in the game at all. How many shots was he going to get on this new Heat team?

Beasley is no where near a great defender, but he is not nearly as bad as he is being made out to be.  Haslem is tougher and stronger, but he doesn't have the speed or athleticism that Beasley has, so they defend differently (and are thus more effective against different types of players).

Not that you can put much stock in these sort of stats, but at PF Beasley's Opponents PER is 17.3, for comparison Rondo's opponents PER at PG is 17.5. 

[Fafnir]

Not that you can put much stock in these sort of stats, but at PF Beasley's Opponents PER is 17.3, for comparison Rondo's opponents PER at PG is 17.5. 

Congrats you just showed that opponent's PER isn't all that useful.

Beasley plays poor help defense and below average man to man defense. He also doesn't finish possessions off by rebounding. He has plenty of potential, but the Heat don't need potential they need production.

[Birdbrain]

Same price.  On the court you've got to give the nod to Beasley, despite any of his other issues.  He's also got a great deal more potential.  Confusing move.

Haslem is a pros pro and while he's undersized ( love him playing against our bigs when we meet them in playoffs ) I would take him everyday over Beasley.  Beasley is a waste of talent at this point.  Think about it the Heat took him at 2 and gave him away for equates to a bag of balls.  The Beasley love around here is vexxing.

[Boris Badenov]

Haslem is a proven player already and miami wants to win now and not wait on beasley to get his act straight

I don't think Miami can win now anyway.  Beasley is the better player now and in a couple years he will be a much better player.

What do you mean by "better", though?

Haslem is the better rebounder and defender (by a wide margin), and he's a tough player who has his head on straight and who is a leader on and off the court.  Haslem is also a more efficient player.

Sure, Beasley scores about 5 more points per 36 minutes, but scoring isn't what the Heat needs.

I think he just means more talented and has more potential.

He's only more talented when it comes to scoring, though, which is the one skill the Heat have in abundance.  They need defense and toughness, not scoring.

Considering Miami's bench is still pretty empty, I don't think more scoring would hurt.  Beasley's main appeal is that he would have been a potential 4th all star to go with the other 3 in the future once Miami has spent a couple MLE's on a PG and C and they have that toughness and defense.  Not saying this move hurt them, I just don't see why they would trade their #2 pick for a 2nd rounder and use that money for a guy who probably won't ever be better than a good role player.

I've got to think that Miami seems him as a bonehead who doesn't get it.  That was the knock on him in high school and college, and it's followed him to the pros.

Beasley is tremendously talented, but Miami tried to move him repeatedly, and couldn't get more than a couple of future second rounders.  That tells you all you need to know about his reputation.

For a rebuilding team like Minnesota, gambling on Beasley's immense talent makes sense.  For Miami, though, I think they have all the star power they need.  Their focus is better spent on putting together a bunch of guys who "fit" now.

Judging this decision boils down to one simple question: do we trust Pat Riley's opinion that he's a bust, or David Kahn's opinion that he has potential?

One of these guys has seven NBA championship rings. The other is seemingly trying to make us forget Isaiah Thomas.