reflections
May 7th, 2007 Time to Move On

After a dissapointing first round exit in which the Heat was swept by the Bulls, it was clear to everyone in the basketball world that the Heat was getting to old and slow to keep up with the rest of the league. Instead of playing like former champions, the Heat was humiliated by a team that they should have beaten. It is now evident that change must come in order for the Heat to be successful once again. The question is how the Heat will get this help. Currently way over the cap, the Heat have no money to make a big move in Free Agency and only have the MLE and LLE to offer to Free Agents. The Heat have many things they need to do this off-season and unless they make some changes, they will not be successful.

The first thing the Heat need to do is re-sign some players. Both Jason Kapono’s and James Posey’s contracts expired at the end of the season and the Heat will be looking to re-sign them for a reasonable price. Re-signing Jason Kapono, last year’s three-point champ, might not be worth it. Kapono will be looking for a big paycheck after a great season but the Heat currently have Eddie Jones, Antoine Walker, and Dorell Wright at the Small Forward position. Re-signing Posey would be a much smarter move for the Heat as he will cost less and bring more to the table with his defense than Kapono would. After all the last thing this team needs is another big contract.

Once the re-signing period is over, the off-season gets to the exciting part, the NBA Draft and Free Agency. In Free Agency and the NBA Draft, the Heat will have to address a few issues. The Heat must look for a PG and a backup C. Both Heat centers’ careers are nearing the end and as shown in the playoffs, Jason Williams and Gary Payton running the show at PG does not work. The Heat will need to add a young PG or big man through the draft. A few candidates for the Heat at pick #20 could be Javaris Crittenton from Georgia Tech, Acie Law from Texas A&M, or Josh McRoberts from Duke University. If the Heat go with a big man in the draft, they must either go out and trade for a young PG such as Boston’s Sebastian Telfair or someone else and pray that he pans out or spend their money wisely in Free Agency.

Expect for a lot of action from the Heat this off-season. The management knows what they have to do and they do not want to spend Shaq’s last years in mediocrity.

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