Monday, January 08, 2007
Draft #176
Fixing the HeatI don't blame Pat Riley for wanting to take some time away from coaching the Miami Heat because this team is a mess. Shaq has missed the majority of this season due to knee surgery and Jason Williams, James Posey, and Antoine Walker have all missed time due to injuries as well. The Heat are old, rickety, and hanging by a thread in the woeful Eastern Conference and their future is looking quite bleak. If it was up to me, I'd blow this whole team up and start over as soon as possible so some of Wade's prime seasons won't be wasted away.
(Now before I start listing all the moves I would make to retool the Miami Heat's roster, I'd just like to make it known that I realize the majority of these trades probably couldn't or wouldn't happen because of the salary cap and a host of other factors. But to my credit I'm not exactly taking on some big time talent here. I'm looking for high energy guys, shooters, scrappers, no egos, guys who haven't been given enough minutes to shine, and most importantly, youth.)
Step One
-Trade Shaquille O'Neal to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Anderson Varejao. Sideshow Varejao as I have cleverly nicknamed him, is only 24 years old and has been sharing time with Zydrunas Ilgauskas ever since he's been in the league. Varejao has a good outside shot and is extremely mobile, the exact opposite of Shaq. I'd also be curious to see if Shaq had enough in the tank to help LeBron James capture his first championship. But as the pseudo general manager of the Heat, I'm very excited to have my new starting center.
Step Two
-Trade Jason Williams to the Orlando Magic for Travis Diener. This intrastate point guard swap would reunite the two former Marquette guards and save the Heat some cash in the process. I'm not sure how Diener would be able to handle starting point guards night in and night out defensively, but I'd like to see him get his chance. Williams played his college ball in Florida so he probably wouldn't mind sticking around the sunshine state for a couple more seasons until he retires. And if he does mind, then tough titties, cuz the Heat are no longer in need of his services.
Step Three
-Trade Antoine Walker to the Atlanta Hawks for Josh Childress. With Josh Smith and Marvin Williams playing the same position as Childress, it appears he will probably never get a chance to play heavy minutes as a starter as long as he's in Atlanta. Walker is rapidly breaking down and now moves with all the grace of a dump trunk in quicksand. Plus, Walker has already played for Atlanta so that should be an easy transition for him.
Step Four
Trade Udonis Haslem to the Utah Jazz for Paul Millsap. Millsap is going to be a huge talent in the NBA someday and he needs to get out from under Carlos Boozer's shadow and be in a situation where he can get more than the 15 minutes a night he's currently playing. Haslem isn't somebody I'd label as being part of the Heat's current problems, but I think Millsap has a higher ceiling than Haslem and he could surpass Haslem's level of production very quickly if given the chance to play. And as an added bonus, Millsap is five years younger than Haslem.
Step Five
-Trade Dorell Wright and Jason Kapono to the Houston Rockets for Luther Head, Steve Novak, and John Lucas. Wright has the youth that the Heat is looking for, but I like the fact that all of the players the Heat would be gaining in this trade have had success in college and they are all young. Plus, I couldn't pass on reuniting Wade and Diener with Novak.
Step Six
-Trade Alonzo Mourning to the Los Angeles Lakers for Rony Turiaf. If Shaq gets to try and mooch a ring off of LeBron, then why not let Zo try and mooch one off of Kobe. Zo could teach Andrew Bynum and Kwame Brown a thing or two about being a center in the NBA, and Rony can be the first guy off the bench once either Millsap or Varejao needed a breather. Turiaf plays the game hard every second he's on the court and he's always rooting for his teammates when he's on the bench. There's a lot to like about Turiaf and nobody in their right mind wouldn't want him as a teammate.
Step Seven
-Trade James Posey to the New York Knicks for Renaldo Balkman. In a couple of years, with some intense training, Balkman could be a Dennis Rodman type player but with a way better shot. Substituting Balkman and Turiaf into a game at the same time would be a scary thought for a lot of opposing teams. It'd be like having a team of wild pit bulls let loose in your bedroom and you only had a roll of toilet paper to protect yourself. Pure mutiny.
Step Eight
-Trade Michael Doleac to the Philadelphia 76ers for Shavlik Randolph. Doleac would be reunited with former college teammate Andre Miller and all of Philly would rejoice!
Step Nine
-Trade Gary Payton to the Milwaukee Bucks for Charlie Bell (Bucks trade Payton back to Seattle in exchange for Ray Allen).
The Rest
-Trade Wayne Simien to Phoenix for James Jones
-Trade Chris Quinn to Charlotte for Matt Carroll
-Waive Robert Hite
-Retain Earl Barron
2007-08 Roster
C-Anderson Varejao
PF- Paul Millsap
SF- Josh Childress
SG- Dwyane Wade
PG- Travis Diener
Bench
-Rony Turiaf
-Shavlik Randolph
-Renaldo Balkman
-Luther Head
-Charlie Bell
-Earl Barron
-Steve Novak
Inactive List
-Matt Carroll
-James Jones
-John Lucas
*2007 draft picks not accounted for
# posted by hucklebuck @ 10:40 AM 
