<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The kind of splash that Shaquille O'Neal makes when he cannonballs into your swimming pool (or onto your roster) -- that is the kind of splash Heat coach and president Pat Riley hopes to make this summer in the NBA talent free-for-all. Wait. Get me rewrite on that last phrase. NBA talent isn't free for anybody, as we were reminded seeing Miami's Jason Kapono, a part-time starter and career seven-point scorer, somehow squeeze $6 million per season from Toronto. Give Riley credit for thinking big by daring an interest in Seattle forward Rashard Lewis, merely the most coveted free agent out there after a 22.4-point scoring season and in his prime at 27. Half of the teams in the league (literally) are in the Lewis hunt, which seems to render Heat chances remote. That's mainly because, unlike Miami, some teams like Orlando have the financial flexibility to sign Lewis outright, while others like Houston have more to offer in a sign-and-trade. So figure the Heat misses out on Lewis. What then? I say Riley should go from aiming big to aiming even bigger: Kevin Garnett. Chauncey Billups. Can't have both, of course; wouldn't want to get greedy! Can't have either, most probably, but that's the fun part about dreaming in the newspaper. It doesn't cost anything. In that spirit:</div> Source: Miami Herald
I think the Heat will be a sup par team for some time unless the east stays as weak as it was last year and Dwyane wade start scoring like crazy
Everyone thinks the Heat are going to suck based off of what? The series against Chicago? The fact is that Dwyane Wade was injured, he shouldn't have been playing, Jason Williams was injured all season and he wasn't able to play to the level he's capable of, Dorrell Wright was very underused as well. I think we're going to surprise a lot of people this year and I wouldn't be surprised if Riley makes a big move this summer. How could you count out a team when Wade and Shaq are still there.
Well....I consider Shaq less of a factor each year, Miami haven't YET made any serious acquisitions, Posey has been mentioned a sign and trade so I don't know what that will bring in?, Kapono has been lost in free agency, Miami lost to the Bulls in the first round, Zo undecided on return. Again most of these factors are open ended and are still yet to be decided for example the return or retire of Zo and resigning of Posey. So I don't think anyone can make a reasonable judgement until these situations have been closed. We also have to consider how the rest of the east has developed now we have Ray Allen in Boston, Richardson in Charlotte, Z-Bo in New York, Lewis in Orlando and there may be more players that help eastern teams improve upon there win record, which effects every other eastern teams win record including Miami.
You have to remember, old guys like Shaq, Eddie Jones, Gary Payton, Alonzo Mourning (if he returns), and even Antoine Walker to a certain extent are another year older. These guys will probably won't improve from last year, and most likely their play will deteriorate. I just don't see Miami as one of the top teams in the East anymore.
Shaquille O'Neal's contract is rapidly approaching albatross status. When you consider the crop of great young big men in the NBA (Howard, Stoudamire, Oden, Curry, Biedrins, Boozer, the list goes on...) it becomes apparent that not only is Shaq becoming chronically injured, he isn't worth the cash when healthy.
Shaq is going to take a paycut to make room in the cap. It hasn't been announced yet but I'm sure it will come soon. D Wade is arguably the best player in the game behind Kobe as well. Zo is more than likely returning as it was stated by Pat Riley in the Herald the other day. Again, you can't judge us based on the Chicago series seeing that Wade was injured and as was Jason. Also, Shaq dominated when Wade was out. The game against Detroit he destroyed their entire team and anyone else who got in his way. He doesn't average Amare type numbers because he doesn't have to. Assuming we trade Posey, we still have Dorrell Wright who played great last season when he did.
<div class="quote_poster">Playmaker15 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Shaq is going to take a paycut to make room in the cap. It hasn't been announced yet but I'm sure it will come soon. D Wade is arguably the best player in the game behind Kobe as well. Zo is more than likely returning as it was stated by Pat Riley in the Herald the other day. Again, you can't judge us based on the Chicago series seeing that Wade was injured and as was Jason. Also, Shaq dominated when Wade was out. The game against Detroit he destroyed their entire team and anyone else who got in his way. He doesn't average Amare type numbers because he doesn't have to. Assuming we trade Posey, we still have Dorrell Wright who played great last season when he did.</div> Unless, Shaq has a player option or the Heat have a team option on his current deal, Shaq isn't allowed to take a paycut. This isn't the NFL, player's aren't allowed to restructure their deals. His $20M is going to count against the salary cap for the next 3 years.
For all the good buzz Shaq gets, he's shown through his actions that he's all about the green. Wanted more than the Lakers would give him, so he demanded a trade. Nothing wrong with that, but it makes it doubtful he'd even want to restructure if he could. As far as the Heat go, sure, Shaq played relatively well against the Pistons. But what are the Pistons? After watching them piss around against the Cavs the last couple of years, it's hard to argue that they're apathetic. Their frontcourt is not what it once was. Rasheed Wallace and Chris Webber are both over the hill, and reluctant to play inside. I maintain that against the top flight big men in the league, Shaq will be ineffective, and the supporting cast around Wade is simply not enough. It'll be hard to improve with that salary eating up the cap space, too.
