R.I.P. NBA as we knew it...sort of...the summer-o-fun is off to a massive start...in the T-Dot was it ever conceivable that this city would have more hate for someone than Vince Carter?!?! I sure am down on Chris Bosh and I am in the majority...on a larger scale how did the once Golden Child of the NBA LeBron James pass #1 hated Kobe Bryant as the top villain in the Association?!?!...Raps (CB4) Cavs (Bron Bron) Suns (Amar'e) Jazz (Carlos Boozer) all lose a franchise-type guy and get zero players in return...heck even the Knicks got talent like Anthony Randolph plus 2 other NBA players for David Lee...Paul Pierce and Disco Dirk both opted out in order to re-sign for less per-year so what will those franchises do to further surround those studs with more firepower?...Cavs owner Dan Gilbert firing an all-caps barrage at his former star...and Pat Riley strikes again...NBA is where amazing happens - until next year when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires and we have a lockout (seriously it's coming)
Of the things written above that we will look specifically at let's start with Pat Riley...he stacked Titles at the helm of the Showtime Lakers of the 80's...if it wasn't for #23 in Chicago he could have really competed for championships - plural - in his Knicks and Heat days of he 90's...orchestrates Shaq trade to pair him with D-Wade in South Beach, and from there follow this - he wins a Title with Shaq - then gets Phoenix to take on that contract in exchange for Shawn Marion - then trades Marion for Jermaine O'Neal (a move the Raptors would do anything to have back) and uses the leverage of that contract coming off the books this summer - THE summer - to help parlay other salary-dump trades to be in this unreal situation of landing Bosh/Wade/LBJ on a roster that had zero sign-and-trade options...with Bosh we know that other teams meant other - BETTER - scenarios...names like Joakim Noah/Anderson Varejo/Andrew Bynum/Luis Scola/Shane Battier/David Lee were all hot-and-heavy rumours at one point or another in exchange for CB4, but Riley gets Bosh and James for only draft picks...I wrote a few weeks ago that Riley had this unthinkable plan back then, and Alonzo Mourning, who works in the Heat organization, said recently that he knew for some time now that the 3 were headed to the Heat...Pat Riley!All right now on to the NBA's newest Big 3...
Why this will work...
for me this is a small list but of course we want to examine all angles and all sides here...LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are special Superstars...special in that they are obsessed with making the right decision with the basketball irregardless if that means they are getting theirs, or creating for a teammate...they clearly create late-game issues for opponents as they will have a choice between the 2 of them as to who has the weaker defender on them for a last second shot...either can take and make game winners...As for Bosh that collective "WHAT?!?!" you heard during the Wednesday Wade/Bosh espn interview to announce their intentions to be Heat players came from north of the border as Chris Bosh declared that Wade is a "winner" (true) and that he too is a "winner" (pardon cest moi?!?!)...were you able to find anyone in Canada who agrees with that?...truth is Bosh is absolutely not a winner but in this scenario he gets to ride 2 amazing coattails which suits his game and personality perfectly...a piece yet to fall in place for the Heat is the signing of Derek Fisher...now I personally believe that D-Fish will re-up in LA but the Heat and Riley are in hot pursuit of the perfect fit at PG for this unit...even LeBron made sure to meet with Fisher for a bit in the airport in Miami where Fisher was landing to meet with Riley and James was departing for New York to be in Carmelo Anthony's wedding...James is smart enough to know that what separates him from Kobe these days is Bryant's unparalleled mental game, and no one in this league has a better understanding\insight of that then Fisher...his veteran leadership plus ability to impart Kobe-type wisdom and approach to the game will benefit James immensely...this Heat team is public enemy #1 and thus will have immense pressure on them and Fisher is the perfect leader to remain calm and guide his team through any stormWhy this won't work...
Where to start...well lets look at these names - Chris Quinn - Jamal Magloire - Juwan Howard - Earl Watson - Etan Thomas...these are the types of names\players that Miami will have to fill out their roster with due to the obvious lack-of-funds left after signing the Big 3...plus current Heat players like Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, and their 2010 draft picks Dexter Pittman, Jarvis Varnado, and Da`Sean Butler...not a lot there to be excited about...
With or without LeBron this Heat club was in desperate need of a legit 7-foot shot blocking Center plus a minimum of 1, likely 2 shooters (looks like they will sign Mike Miller which is nice but he plays LeBron`s position so to get him playing time Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will have to be creative and play guys in different positions)...adding LeBron does nothing to address those areas, in fact leaves little $$$ to address those areas...
For Wade and James they were each eliminated by the Boston Celtics this year and both were victim to the Rajon Rondo coming out party where RR did whatever he wanted, went wherever he wanted, and created whatever he wanted for himself and\or teammates...plus the Celtics have an overwhelming play-off defense...for me the Big 3 signing with Miami does nothing to address that...is Mario Chalmers the answer to Rondo...no sir...even if they sign D-Fish at 36 years old is he the answer to Rondo? Doubt it...that also leaves Chris Bosh as the #1 defender at the rim vs Garnett\Perkins\Davis...hey good luck with that (Miami is going to find out at some point what a horrible defender Bosh is)
And what about the Chicago Bulls...this Heat team has no answer for Derrick Rose and again have Bosh to defend a front court of Joakim Noah (Noah will outwork Bosh every single possession) and Carlos Boozer...hey good luck with that part II
The Orlando Magic offer an All-Star Point Guard in Jameer Nelson - no answer from Miami - plus Bosh to shut down Dwight Howard...hey good luck with that part III (side note - Howard is approx 2 years away from complete control of this league...when Kobe leaves the NBA it will not be LeBron James' league but in fact D12...take a look at the history of the great NBA Center's and they take their games to that unstoppable level around 28 years old...Howard will be 25 next season and already at a beast level)...Raptors fans saw Howard dwarf Bosh in the play-offs multiple times...and it may be on deck for Heat fans in the summer of 2011 in a playoff series with state rival Orlando...
Boston (Doc Rivers) Chicago (Tom Thibodeau) will be foes for Miami in the East and both have significantly better coaches than the Heat`s Erik Spoelstra...not to mention guys like Phil Jackson (Lakers) Greg Popovich (Spurs) Rick Carlisle (Mavs) in the West
The 2 biggest sub-plots in the Association this year are 1 and 1A...
1 is the Miami Heat are the most hated team in the NBA and I truly wonder if the Big 3 could have seen this coming...their management teams surely would have been smart enough to have their clients understand the probability of some backlash, but did anyone see this coming?
1A - the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires after this upcoming season...this could be huge for the Heat...heck this could be huge for all of us NBA fans as a lockout\work stoppage is coming in about 11 months...for the Miami Heat the end results of the work stoppage, and what the new CBA looks like will be of CRUCIAL importance...we already know that Miami has to convince several contributors to come to South Beach for the NBA minimum salary but what if the Owners get the Hard Salary Cap with no Exceptions that they will be insisting on?!?! (an Exception being like a Trade Exception or a Mid-Level Exception where NBA teams who are already over the Salary Cap can still use Exceptions for trades or to add free-agents) A hard cap would mean that once you are at the cap max then sorry about your management decisions because that is it...no additions for you...meaning whatever scrubs the Heat surround the Big 3 with this year will be theirs for years to come with no room to add any other players...that could take the Heat from the euphoria they feel currently to a whole lot of "ahhhh crap", especially from the Big 3
Now we know that the Heat`s Big 3 are impressive, but that will do nothing to deter several teams in the East (Celtics\Magic\Bulls will all have the BRING IT ON approach vs the Heat) and if the Lakers can win the West for an amazing 4th straight year they will be confident in a Finals date with anyone out of the East (Lakers beat the best defence out there this year and will feel that they can beat anyone)
UNREAL start to the 2010-2011 NBA season!
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