7/2/10

Party Time in Miami

My old journalism partner-in-crime writes an interesting "what if" scenario creating a dream team of sorts for the Miami Heat that would flat run away with a title. Its nice to imagine what if ...

The Miami Heat are really the only team that could pull something this crazy off due to their cap situation. They can sign three max-salary players if they can get one of those (likely Chris Bosh) in a sign-and-trade deal for Michael Beasley. Mario Chalmers would be the only remaining player on their roster (due to all the other free agency losses). This would allow Dwayne Wade to re-sign (the Heat get a hometown discount on the cap with this one), LeBron James and Bosh to all sign. That gives the team a total of four players: two forwards and two guards.

As if that wasn’t fun enough, it could get even better for Miami. What they would need to do from this point on is to fill the roster with veteran’s minimum free agents. They will also sign their top second round pick (a total steal) Da’Sean Butler (F) and perhaps their other second rounders Dexter Pittman (C) and Jarvis Varnado (F/C).

That gives Miami a roster that is starting to fill out:

Starters:
C-Dexter Pittman
F-Chris Bosh
F-LeBron James
G-Dwayne Wade
G-Mario Chalmers

Bench:
F-Da’Sean Butler
F/C-Jarvis Varnado

That is seven spots out of 12. Five more veteran free agents will still need to be signed, and there are some HUGE names out there. Allen Iverson would be a great addition, which would bump Chalmers to the bench (since his time in Detroit lets us know he does not ride the bench). We also know he wants a ring. It would be great to pair him in the back court with Ray Allen. Remember the legendary Big East Final show they put on? They could do that every day in practice. (Practice?) A better bet would be one of those two and then a shooter like Kyle Korver, J.J. Redick, or Jason Kapono (who we already know plays well with Wade, James, Bosh AND even Iverson). The Heat would also want one more guard, and there are plenty more out there. Carlos Arroyo looks good to me. He’s a good point guard and is good in the South Beach latino community. Plus he played there last year, splitting time with Chalmers. It's good to keep some pieces in place.

With two forwards on the bench already, Miami could use one more and another center since Dexter Pittman is not the guy you want starting for you 82 nights a year. Paul Pierce, Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill are all available if they chose to sign for the minimum. Udonis Haslem is already there (but is an unrestricted free agent) and has done well. Plus he’s the hometown boy, growing up in Miami and playing college ball at Florida. Hakim Warrick would be a nice defensive presence to add in there. Juwan Howard is ring chasing and adds a lot of experience. There are so many players out there, but I think Miami goes for a guy with a lot of experience as a role player on a championship team by picking up Brian Scalabrine.

At center, the possibilities are also amazing. LeBron could take Zydrunas Ilgauskas or Shaquille O’Neal with him from Cleveland. Shaq loves D-Wade and wants a ring for the King. There are several other options like Ben Wallace, Jermaine O’Neal, Brad Miller and (Stephen A. Smith’s favorite) Rasho Nesterovic.

Since Pat Riley has done a good job getting what he wants when going for a championship, and (in this scenario) has landed Wade, James and Bosh, I am going to go with the best possible scenario for the other players to fall into place.

Starters:
C-Shaquille O’Neal
F-Chris Bosh
F-LeBron James
G-Dwayne Wade
G-Allen Iverson

Bench:
G-Mario Chalmers
G/F-Jason Kapono
G-Carlos Arroyo
F-Udonis Haslem
F-Da’Sean Butler
C-Dexter Pittman
F/C-Jarvis Varnado

That’s a championship lineup right there with some good youth backing up talented-but-aging veterans. Paul Pierce will stay a Celtic. (Could you see him in any other uniform?) Ray Allen and Scalabrine will also stay in Beantown to go for that ring they didn’t get this year. That could be a great Eastern Conference final. Of course, one of those teams will have to go through a loaded Orlando team too. Then the Lakers will be waiting in the finals. I don’t know who in the league could match the Heat. You might as well just ship the rings now.