Author Topic: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?  (Read 6165 times)

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Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« on: September 09, 2009, 10:47:04 AM »

Offline nickagneta

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I found this quote in an article about the Miami Heat and Pat Riley stating that he could possibly use next year's cap flexibility to sign many very good players rather than a superstar:

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/heat/content/sports/epaper/2009/09/08/a1c_george_0909.html

Quote
For instance, he might not spend all of his loot next summer on any one particular star, such as Toronto's Chris Bosh.

"If you go back to the last time that we had significant (cap) room," said Riley, "we were able to sign Alonzo Mourning, Juwan Howard, P.J. Brown, Dan Majerle and Tim Hardaway, all in one year. Why do I want to take a big chunk of money and give it to one guy? Why wouldn't I want to spread it around to get two or three starters that fit better?"


Here's a look at the Heat situation next year from a financial aspect:

http://www.shamsports.com/content/pages/data/salaries/heat.jsp


And here's a look at the possible available free agents:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=freeagents-09-10


So if the Heat renounce some of their bigger contracts like O'Neal, Haslam, and Richardson or sign them to considerably less money(I could see Richardson and/or Haslam doing this but I think there's zero chance O'Neal would) and re-sign Wade, are they better off signing a bunch of good players or signing Bosh and a bunch of veteran minimum type players?

Theoretically they could have Wade, Beasley, Cook, Chalmers, and Anthony with $25-$30 million of cap room, if everyone is renounced. So would they be better doing:

Chris Bosh - $16 million
Brad Miller - $5 million
Steve Blake - $5 million
and a bunch of vets min type players

or

Zydrunas Ilgauskas - $6 million
David Lee - $8 million
Raymond Felton - $7 million
Craig Smith - $2 million
Travis Outlaw - $3 million
Marcus Camby - $2 million
and a couple vet mins.

Now of course the salaries are all my estimates as to what those players might get in next year's market and those could be way off depending on what occurs this year but I think you get the idea. You of course can come up with your own group of players that might be a better combo for the Heat over Bosh and some other players. Feel free and get creative.

But is Pat riley right? Could it be in the Heat's best interest to spread the money around and get a bunch of really good players or are they better off investing in just a couple super-duper stars and some prospects and flotsam and jetsam?

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2009, 11:06:36 AM »

Offline Rondo2287

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TP awesome post....

I like option two better personally
CB Draft LA Lakers: Lamarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony,Jrue Holiday, Wes Matthews  6.11, 7.16, 8.14, 8.15, 9.16, 11.5, 11.16

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #2 on: September 09, 2009, 11:23:51 AM »

Offline the_Bird

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Honest answer (and perhaps unfortunate) is that it all depends on what D-Wade wants. 

"Plan B" is basically the Cleveland model; one superstar surrounded by a cast of good but flawed role players.  Outside of Detroit (which was lacking really with ANY superstars that year), not too many title teams that have won without two legitimate All Stars.  Would Miami be good enough with Wade in that role to be a legit contender?  I don't see that team anywhere close to being a title contender (and you aren't getting Camby at $2M).  That group doesn't even have anyone as good as Mo Williams or Delonte West, IMHO.  Lots of very limited players, rotation-caliber players but guys that can be exploited. 

I'm of the opinion that you go after a second star, ideally a big man, and hope that you'll be able to build the rest of the team around with solid veterans willing to play for short money in exchange for living in Miami Beach.  If you're offering the chance of playing with Wade and Bosh, competing for a title, and being in Miami, you'll be able to get some guys aboard to flesh out the roster who aren't too much of a downgrade from the guys in Plan B. 

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #3 on: September 09, 2009, 11:24:58 AM »

Offline KCattheStripe

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Josh Howard- 9 Mil
Travis Diener- 1.5
Joel Pryz ( Assuming he wants to start somewhere)- 5 Mil
Mike Miller- 8 Mil
Rasual Butler- 3 Mil


Resign: Haslem

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #4 on: September 09, 2009, 12:03:51 PM »

Offline ManUp

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If they have 30 Mill to spend I'd go with a Max player and a 3rd scorer. If they have a core of something like Wade, Bosh (or Amare), and a 3rd scorer like Josh Howard they'd look like a real contender.  If players feel they have a legitimate chance to win they'll take the discount (also being near south beach doesn't hurt either).

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #5 on: September 09, 2009, 12:13:09 PM »

Offline Chris

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I think what the Heat end up doing is going to have a lot to do with the development of Beasley, Cook, and Chalmers.  All of them could potentially be very good NBA players, or even stars, but it is too early to tell with all of them.  Hopefully, next summer they will have a better idea, and then they will know what they need to do. 

I think if Beasley ends up breaking out and turning into the star he showed he could be in college, then they would be better off going with role players.  However, if none of them break out, they might be better off going after a real second star player.

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #6 on: September 09, 2009, 12:33:18 PM »

Offline mgent

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Get LeBron.
Philly:

Anderson Varejao    Tiago Splitter    Matt Bonner
David West    Kenyon Martin    Brad Miller
Andre Iguodala    Josh Childress    Marquis Daniels
Dwyane Wade    Leandro Barbosa
Kirk Hinrich    Toney Douglas   + the legendary Kevin McHale

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #7 on: September 09, 2009, 12:34:54 PM »

Offline Michael Anthony

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Great topic! The Heat are a fun petri-dish because they do not have a single garaunteed contract beyond next season.

There are some quality starters and bench players out there:

Rondo / Lowry
Miller / Bell / Morrow
Gay / Kleiza
Scola / Harrington / Outlaw / S. Williams
B. Miller / O'Neal / Boone / Battie / Haywood

Lowry ($5) - Wade - Gay ($13) - Harrington ($7) - O'Neal (MLE) is certainly a contender. Chalmers, Cook, Beasley and a couple of vet minimum contracts off the bench.
"All I have to know is, he's my coach, and I follow his lead. He didn't have to say anything in here this week. We all knew what we had to do. He's a big part of our family, and we're like his extended family. And we did what good families do when one of their own is affected." - Teddy Bruschi

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #8 on: September 09, 2009, 12:49:16 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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Great topic! The Heat are a fun petri-dish because they do not have a single garaunteed contract beyond next season.

There are some quality starters and bench players out there:

Rondo / Lowry
Miller / Bell / Morrow
Gay / Kleiza
Scola / Harrington / Outlaw / S. Williams
B. Miller / O'Neal / Boone / Battie / Haywood

Lowry ($5) - Wade - Gay ($13) - Harrington ($7) - O'Neal (MLE) is certainly a contender. Chalmers, Cook, Beasley and a couple of vet minimum contracts off the bench.
In bringing up the names you did, you point out a great point that needs to be addressed. There are some tremendous restricted free agents that the Heat could make it difficult for their teams to match on.

Childress
Rondo
Kleiza
Morrow
Watson
Landry
Scola
Gay
Aldridge
Rodriguez
Brewer
Foye

The Heat could apply the heat to some teams next year by throwing money at RFA's that their teams might have trouble matching in a shrinking salary cap year.

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #9 on: September 09, 2009, 01:33:06 PM »

Offline Rondo2287

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Do you really think the heat would want Rondo?  I feel like they would probably work best with a PG that can stretch the floor with Dwade slashing to the bucket.
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Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #10 on: September 09, 2009, 01:38:58 PM »

Offline Kwhit10

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While option 2 looks nice this is a superstar league.  While I loved the Zo led Heat, that team didn't win a title.  The Shaq/Wade team won a title.  They should definitely get their 2nd and 3rd scorers.  As people have mentioned people will take discounts to come to the Heat if they have an all-star core, the location of the team can only help in getting people to come to them.

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #11 on: September 09, 2009, 01:39:56 PM »

Offline JSD

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Superstars win in this league.

Riley will renounce all of his expiring contracts, sign Wade and Bosh and use the the rest of the cap money to absorb a starting 1, 5 or a solid 3rd star in exchange for Beasley. The rest of the missing pieces can be acquired throughout the 7 year window that core will have via MLE, LLE, 1st round picks and vet mins.

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #12 on: September 09, 2009, 02:01:36 PM »

Offline nickagneta

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Superstars win in this league.

Riley will renounce all of his expiring contracts, sign Wade and Bosh and use the the rest of the cap money to absorb a starting 1, 5 or a solid 3rd star in exchange for Beasley. The rest of the missing pieces can be acquired throughout the 7 year window that core will have via MLE, LLE, 1st round picks and vet mins.
I think that's the way it will go down too but Riley raises an interesting point. If he loses Wade he just might have to go that route anyway.

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #13 on: September 09, 2009, 02:55:12 PM »

Offline Michael Anthony

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Superstars win in this league.

Riley will renounce all of his expiring contracts, sign Wade and Bosh and use the the rest of the cap money to absorb a starting 1, 5 or a solid 3rd star in exchange for Beasley. The rest of the missing pieces can be acquired throughout the 7 year window that core will have via MLE, LLE, 1st round picks and vet mins.
I think that's the way it will go down too but Riley raises an interesting point. If he loses Wade he just might have to go that route anyway.
Also keep in mind that players can be signed and traded after they have been waived. Riley will probably hang on to Beasley, Chalmers, Cook and Anthony along with Wade. Sign Bosh. Sign Shaq or Miller or Haywood for the MLE. After that, they can sign and trade any of their previous players as expiring deals.

For example, Jermaine O'Neill could be signed and traded as a $20 million expiring contract (1 year garaunteed, 2 years team option) to help some cash strapped team clear all of their bad contracts.
"All I have to know is, he's my coach, and I follow his lead. He didn't have to say anything in here this week. We all knew what we had to do. He's a big part of our family, and we're like his extended family. And we did what good families do when one of their own is affected." - Teddy Bruschi

Re: Are the Heat better off not signing a second superstar in 2010?
« Reply #14 on: September 09, 2009, 03:10:36 PM »

Offline Chris

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Superstars win in this league.

Riley will renounce all of his expiring contracts, sign Wade and Bosh and use the the rest of the cap money to absorb a starting 1, 5 or a solid 3rd star in exchange for Beasley. The rest of the missing pieces can be acquired throughout the 7 year window that core will have via MLE, LLE, 1st round picks and vet mins.
I think that's the way it will go down too but Riley raises an interesting point. If he loses Wade he just might have to go that route anyway.
Also keep in mind that players can be signed and traded after they have been waived. Riley will probably hang on to Beasley, Chalmers, Cook and Anthony along with Wade. Sign Bosh. Sign Shaq or Miller or Haywood for the MLE. After that, they can sign and trade any of their previous players as expiring deals.

For example, Jermaine O'Neill could be signed and traded as a $20 million expiring contract (1 year garaunteed, 2 years team option) to help some cash strapped team clear all of their bad contracts.

That's not true.  If a player is renounced (which they need to do to get the cap room), then they lose the bird rights.