Saturday, May 15, 2010

It All Starts With the Draft

As most of you know, the Miami Heat is set to enter the NBA draft on June 24th with four draft picks. One first rounder (#18) and three second rounders (#41, #42, #48) could be making their way onto the Miami Heat roster.

However, I expect the first round pick to be shopped alongside DaeQuan Cook (expiring RFA), James Jones (partial guarantee for three years) and possibly Michael Beasley in order to get a head start on the off-season makeover.

The first round pick only counts $1.2M against the cap, so it is quite possible that Riley will be making the pick for himself if the right guy falls to him. However, as I glance through the mock draft on hoopshype, I see a lot of guys that are said to be raw or projects in some way:

http://hoopshype.com/draft.htm

Admittedly, mock drafts aren't the best resource in the world and gems can be found, but Riley recently reminded us that he prefers to build through free agency and trades.

If James Jones is not traded before June 30th, he could be cut and cost $1.9M in 2010, $2M in 2011 and $2.1M in 2011. Everybody expects Miami to cut him loose, but you never know how much value three point shooting will have in the new look Miami Heat.

Trades for 2010 cap space can begin on July 1st, so trades before then will have to be within 25%. Only Orlando has a trade exception big enough to take on those salaries and they are not likely to want to help Miami become a dynastic team, so it will be interesting to see what takes place in anticipation of July 7th when free agents can begin to sign contracts.

5 comments:

  1. 2 prospects that I would love to have with the 18th pick are Hassan Whiteside(Might fall) and Bledsoe.Bledsoe is a good outside shooter,dangerous off the drive,quick first step,not afraid to take contact when attacking the basket,ability to weave his way through traffic in the lane and get to the rim,lightning quick in the open court,Great expolsiveness at the rim for a point guard,pesky on the ball defender,decent strength.They are a few things I don't like about him he plays out of control to much for a pg imo and he's a bit streaky with his 3pt shooting.As for Hassan he's a great rebounder and shotblocker he also plays great defense and can be a terror in the paint defensively but his offensive game needs work and he seems have have trouble with double-teams he's basically a poormans Howard.He has tons of upside but he has high bust potential which is the main reason DeAndre Jordan fell to the 2nd round in 08.I'd be happy with either of them on the Heat next year.

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  2. Also did anybody hear about D.west getting it on with Lebrons mom?lol it might be another excuse but if it's true then that would explain alot about what happened to him.

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  3. Yeah, DeAndre Jordan. Bust. We all know how that worked out. Good thing we got Chalmers...

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  4. Bledsoe sounds like a good option, the way you describe him... I worry about taking the last guy out of a strong bunch though...

    The sixth best HS prospect was Dorell Wright (he is finally developing, but we were all hoping Josh or JR Smith would drop to us at the time)

    The third best Buckeye was DaeQuan (although he has accomplished more than his Buckeye teammates so far, so I can't really complain)

    On another note, Gilbert Arenas dropped to the second round when four NBA prospects came out of the U of Arizona because he was a SG in a PG body...

    Does this guy have star potential, like a Russell Westbrook?

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  5. Yes he does but he has to continue to to increase his strenght,ball handling and shotting.If we do get him lets hope he's a better shooter then Westbrook.

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