Basketball Blog

What's next for the Miami Heat?

After suffering a shocking first round sweep at the hands of the Chicago Bulls, the Miami Heat organization is facing a crossroad. Will Pat Riley return? How much fuel does Shaq Diesel have left in the tank? How's Dwyane Wade's shoulder holding up? And most importantly, who can come in and rejuvenate an aging team that most likely will not have the veteran leadership of Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning next season?

Nobody knows right now whether or not Pat Riley will return to the team, not even Riley, but it really doesn't make a difference. The team is in great hands under General Manager Randy Pfund and owner Mickey Arison, during their tenure together over the past 11 years, the Heat have only missed the playoffs once. If Miami wants to remain a contender, they must get Dwyane Wade some more help. Jason Kapono, James Posey, and Gary Payton are officially off the books, and re-signing the 3-point specialist Kapono is a top priority. Free agency probably isn't the answer with all of the players worth signing having a very large price tag (Rashard Lewis). Fortunately for Miami, this year's draft is absolutely loaded. Unfortunately they only have one pick (#20), but they should utilize it well and look for either a point guard or future big man. I like point guard Javaris Crittenton out of Georgia Tech to be a great fit for this squad. They need someone to replace Jason Williams whose career is nearing an end and they've got no realistic in-house solutions. At 6'5", Crittenton is definitely a tall point guard but he plays the position the right way, getting everyone else involved before he gets his points. A team with Dwyane Wade must have a point guard who can run the offense and get everyone else involved. Shaquille O'Neal says he's playing until his contract expires because he's an honest man, but honesty won't help him when he's up at night tending to his throbbing knee. The Heat must look towards the future and they might focus in on getting a big man, but all the worthy centers will most likely be gone by the 20th pick.

The Heat have a lot to look forward too, Udonis Haslem has a consistent mid-range jump shot and is tenacious on the glass, Wade is one of the league's best players, and Shaq will be motivated to make at least one more run at the championship.


Three Disapointments

1. Chris Bosh- In what could have been the Raptors final game of the season, last night's game 5 was a no-show for Chris Bosh. He shot 3-11 from the field, finishing with only 11 points and 8 rebounds. Bosh made a huge mistake admitting he was nervous in his first playoff series and has sure played like it. He's been getting into foul trouble way too early in this series and if he wants a shot at Lebron, he's got to step it up on the offensive end.
   
2. Dirk Nowitzki- I know he finally decided to show up at the end of last night's game 5, but Dirk was a ghost 45 minutes of the game. He's proven to everyone watching this series that he's clearly not an MVP candidate (I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this).
3. The Denver Nuggets- They went out and got one of the best scorers in the NBA only to run into a brick wall in San Antonio and have not improved one bit since last season. Carmelo Anthony is too good of a player not to have advanced past the first round in his career. Also, George Karl's treatment of J.R. Smith was completely out of line, I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a commentator booth at this time next year.