|
|
|
|
|
|
Temperature's rising: LeBron adds triple threat for Heat
By David Zizmor
July 8, 2010
|
|
|
|
For the Miami Heat this week it sounds like more of an All-Star team than the old Heat you might remember in seasons past, for the Heat it'll be LeBron James who signed on board on Thursday night, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh who signed on Tuesday night making up the core but at this stage the question will be whose going to be the rest of the team.
Obviously LeBron, Bosh and Wade are a formidable threesome but there are more than three players on a basketball team, you start five and you have guys on one the bench. In order to make room for the salaries for all three of them the Heat had to get rid of a lot of players or they had to get rid of a lot of their free agents.
A lot of guys who were on the team with the Heat last year Jermaine O'Neal, Quentin Richardson, Udonis Haslem, and Carlos Arroyo, all those guys are off the team and granted those weren't exactly the best guys but they were the depth on this team and the rest of those guys who are left their questionable as to their talent.
The real question now moving forward you have LeBron, Wade and Bosh but who else do you have? Who are the rest of the guys who are going to be playing with the Miami Heat? Let's face it these guys are going to be making a lot of money which means there's not going to be a whole lot left for the rest of the team.
The salary cap is going to be about $58 million with those three guys with Wade he'll make somewhere in the neighborhood of $25-30 million, and LeBron and Bosh will make that much too. They can make also make around $20 million all of them can make the maximum amount of money that would leave no money left under the salary cap.
If the Heat pay Bosh, LeBron, and Wade well over $15 million apiece which they'll all get at the very least there's not going to be a whole lot of money left for the rest of the team. They do have Michael Beasley he's had emotional issues and he hasn't lived up to the hype of being one the top picks a few seasons ago.
Beasley has some potential, there's Mario Chalmers he's a guard presumably he'll be getting more time in the back court at the point with Wade playing at the shooting guard position, it's not definite whose going to play center. For the Heat right now the guy they have on the roster Joel Anthony he's a third year player and he can play center.
There's also Dexter Pittman a center who was a rookie and who was signed in the draft but right now the Heat don't have a guy at center. Bosh plays power forward, Wade plays the two spot, LeBron plays the three or the four, and those three guys are fantastic but the big question is whose the rest of the team?
The Heat have the rest of the off season to figure that out but at this point it's who are they going to get and who can they afford? They might get a little lucky with some players who are willing to take less than what they would get elsewhere simply because they'll have the opportunity to play with Wade, Bosh, and LeBron.
One of the things they'll have to contend with is the bargaining agreement is going to expire after this season and a lot of players are going to look for deals that are going to give them a little bit of security in the long term and taking a contract for less money right now when they don't know what the bargaining situation is going to be in year taking a short term contract just to play with these guys might not be the most attractive option.
The Heat should be a very attractive team but we don't know if they're going be the odds on favorites because they might not be able to put together enough depth to get a full team going behind Bosh, Wade, and LeBron.
David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio
|
|
|
|