-Prediction: if the Heat lose to the Lakers, Spoelstra's cooked. Pat Riley will come down and do it himself. He's too competitive to just watch this thing fail in front of his eyes.
-Some people (cough)me(cough) were saying back in July that three superstars surrounded by a bunch of scrubs wasn't a sure thing to work. Miami is now severely limited in how they can build around the Two-And-A-Half Men. They have no midlevel exception. The Bulls own their first round pick. There is only one logical course of action here:
Make LeBron James into your Herschel Walker.
In one fell swoop, add an entire team around Wade and Bosh. LeBron would have NO leverage to stop such a thing. Now, it's not as easy as it sounds, because he's *only* making $16 million next year and that limits how much you can take back. But here are some interesting permutations that would work...
1. LeBron and Mike Miller to Philly for Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Jrue Holiday and a #1 pick.
Young, 23, is a good player who has found himself blocked by a resurgent Elton Brand. He's a legit young starting forward in this league. Holiday, 21, is an emerging young point guard (who at 6'4" could also shift to the 2 when playing with Chalmers) who is averaging 14 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and almost 2 steals per game. And Iguodala is an established very good player who has been racking up more than his share of triple doubles this year. A lineup of Holiday, Wade, Iguodala, Young and Bosh - with Chalmers and Haslem off the bench - is just better than what Miami has now.
1. LeBron and Mike Miller to Philly for Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, Jrue Holiday and a #1 pick.
Young, 23, is a good player who has found himself blocked by a resurgent Elton Brand. He's a legit young starting forward in this league. Holiday, 21, is an emerging young point guard (who at 6'4" could also shift to the 2 when playing with Chalmers) who is averaging 14 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and almost 2 steals per game. And Iguodala is an established very good player who has been racking up more than his share of triple doubles this year. A lineup of Holiday, Wade, Iguodala, Young and Bosh - with Chalmers and Haslem off the bench - is just better than what Miami has now.
Philly would obviously do it in a heartbeat and go with a lineup of Louis Williams, Jodie Meeks, LeBron, Brand and Spencer Hawes/Marrese Speights. Evan Turner is their super 6th man.
2. LeBron and Miller to Golden State for Steph Curry, David Lee and Dorell Wright.
Curry is a star player and Lee is averaging 16 & 10 (after 20 & 12 last year and 16 & 12 the year before that). Dorell Wright is one of the league's best kept secrets. The former DePaul commitment (and former Heat first round pick) is 25 years old and averaging 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting close to 40% on threes. A lineup of Curry, Wade, Wright, Bosh and Lee is WAY better than what the Heat throw out there now.
2. LeBron and Miller to Golden State for Steph Curry, David Lee and Dorell Wright.
Curry is a star player and Lee is averaging 16 & 10 (after 20 & 12 last year and 16 & 12 the year before that). Dorell Wright is one of the league's best kept secrets. The former DePaul commitment (and former Heat first round pick) is 25 years old and averaging 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting close to 40% on threes. A lineup of Curry, Wade, Wright, Bosh and Lee is WAY better than what the Heat throw out there now.
Golden State re-tools around LeBron with Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh and Andris Biedrins.
3. LeBron and Miller to Minnesota for Kevin Love, Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington and the rights to Ricky Rubio.
This is actually kind of my favorite because it's interesting on so many levels. First, just the awesome schadenfruede of not only forcing LeBron to leave his buddies and take his talents from South Beach to the coldest market in the NBA, but it reunites him with Delonte West. Delicious. Kevin Love has turned into a legitimate star in this league. Wesley Johnson is a high upside youngster. Ellington is not a bad bench player - he's a very good three point shooter. Rubio has some delayed value for Miami. But this deal uses Minnesota's available cap space to free up $12 million for the Heat on top of an existing lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Johnson, Love and Bosh (with Haslem returning to come off the bench with Ellington).
3. LeBron and Miller to Minnesota for Kevin Love, Wesley Johnson, Wayne Ellington and the rights to Ricky Rubio.
This is actually kind of my favorite because it's interesting on so many levels. First, just the awesome schadenfruede of not only forcing LeBron to leave his buddies and take his talents from South Beach to the coldest market in the NBA, but it reunites him with Delonte West. Delicious. Kevin Love has turned into a legitimate star in this league. Wesley Johnson is a high upside youngster. Ellington is not a bad bench player - he's a very good three point shooter. Rubio has some delayed value for Miami. But this deal uses Minnesota's available cap space to free up $12 million for the Heat on top of an existing lineup of Chalmers, Wade, Johnson, Love and Bosh (with Haslem returning to come off the bench with Ellington).
Minnesota builds around LeBron with Anthony Randolph - who is showing in Love's absence that he is a perfectly viable solution at the 4, along with a top 3 draft pick this year and a TON of cap space in the summer of 2012. They'd have a legitimate shot at attracting Deron Williams or Chris Paul to play with LeBron in a year.
There are ways to do this that work for everyone: they let another team that's currently in NBA hell have the dream situation of building around LeBron, while making the Heat a more viable title contender with a better-constructed TEAM than they have now.
There are ways to do this that work for everyone: they let another team that's currently in NBA hell have the dream situation of building around LeBron, while making the Heat a more viable title contender with a better-constructed TEAM than they have now.
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