Let's consider that they may keep Shawn Marion.

Honorable mentions, and minor free agent pickups you want to see happen are more than welcome. Like I know Pat Riley will have an eye on PJ Brown.

Elton Brand...

Arenas, Davis, or Brand are all good with me.

well under the assumption marion stays...id say we go with baron davis and draft beasley

 

so that our starting lineup would be davis, wade, marion, beasley, and barron or xyz center

Elton Brand if they are smart

I said it as soon as they traded Shaq...sign Elton Brand and Baron Davis. Boom. Done, C and PG taken care of.

Elton Brand but they still have to free up more cap space because Marion is staying.

I don't think they'd need to clear up any more cap space because Jason Williams (9 mil), Ricky Davis (8 mil), and Zo (3 mil) are all coming off the books next year. That would leave 20 million available. And if we get Brand, they'll start looking to trade Haslem (6 mil). I'd rather sign Davis and get Beasley. The Heat would have a nasty run and gun offense with Davis, Wade, Marion, and Beasley. I see Davis sticking with the Warriors though.

If Marion stays, we don't have any cap room.

If Marion stays, we don't have any cap room.

 

Uh, yeah we will man. J-Will, Ricky Davis and Zo come off the books.

If Marion stays, we don't have any cap room.

 

Uh, yeah we will man. J-Will, Ricky Davis and Zo come off the books.

 

You are wrong. Yes, Davis, Williams, Zo, and potentially Wright's salaries come off the books this offseason, but that doesn't mean the Heat will have cap room this offseason. They still have Wade, Marion, Haslem, Blount, Banks, and Cook on the books. The NBA salary cap is somewhere in the low-to-mid $50 range. Those players combined put the Heat at or near the salary cap. Even though the cap will increase slightly, any cap room the Heat have would be minimal. What the Heat will have is lots of room under the luxary tax. That will allow them to add players with both the mid-level and low-level exceptions without having to worry about going over the tax and paying a dollar for dollar penalty for going over the tax.

 

Should Marion opt-out, then you are looking at $17-20 million in cap room and enough room to add a max contract free agent. They also could use Marion in a sign-and-trade deal for a player like Brand, or they could work out a contract extension with him and lower his cap number for next year. Otherwise, you let him play out next season and have a lot of cap room after next year.

 

Obviously, where the Heat ends up in the Lottery will determine what course they take in the offseason. If they get the #1 pick, then you have Beasley and Haslem or Marion become expendable(or more expendable then they are now). If they end up with #2, #3 or #4 and you get Rose or another PG, then they may chose to keep Haslem and let Marion play out his deal and use the cap room the following offseason.

salary cap will likely be around 57 or so and according to hoops hype you around 3.7M space if Marion uses his option. If he doesn't, you guys have around 20M+.

 

I don't think there is anyway Marion doesn't use his 18M dollar option.

If Marion stays, we don't have any cap room.

 

Uh, yeah we will man. J-Will, Ricky Davis and Zo come off the books.

 

You are wrong. Yes, Davis, Williams, Zo, and potentially Wright's salaries come off the books this offseason, but that doesn't mean the Heat will have cap room this offseason. They still have Wade, Marion, Haslem, Blount, Banks, and Cook on the books. The NBA salary cap is somewhere in the low-to-mid $50 range. Those players combined put the Heat at or near the salary cap. Even though the cap will increase slightly, any cap room the Heat have would be minimal. What the Heat will have is lots of room under the luxary tax. That will allow them to add players with both the mid-level and low-level exceptions without having to worry about going over the tax and paying a dollar for dollar penalty for going over the tax.

 

Should Marion opt-out, then you are looking at $17-20 million in cap room and enough room to add a max contract free agent. They also could use Marion in a sign-and-trade deal for a player like Brand, or they could work out a contract extension with him and lower his cap number for next year. Otherwise, you let him play out next season and have a lot of cap room after next year.

 

Obviously, where the Heat ends up in the Lottery will determine what course they take in the offseason. If they get the #1 pick, then you have Beasley and Haslem or Marion become expendable(or more expendable then they are now). If they end up with #2, #3 or #4 and you get Rose or another PG, then they may chose to keep Haslem and let Marion play out his deal and use the cap room the following offseason.

 

Oh, my bad, I misunderstood cap room for open salary. I thought it was being said that the payroll wouldn't be less than it is now, in other words.

 

And yeah, I think Marion would be stupid to opt out of his contract. I really don't think he's even worth the 17-18 mil he's due.

If Marion stays, we don't have any cap room.

 

Uh, yeah we will man. J-Will, Ricky Davis and Zo come off the books.

 

You are wrong. Yes, Davis, Williams, Zo, and potentially Wright's salaries come off the books this offseason, but that doesn't mean the Heat will have cap room this offseason. They still have Wade, Marion, Haslem, Blount, Banks, and Cook on the books. The NBA salary cap is somewhere in the low-to-mid $50 range. Those players combined put the Heat at or near the salary cap. Even though the cap will increase slightly, any cap room the Heat have would be minimal. What the Heat will have is lots of room under the luxary tax. That will allow them to add players with both the mid-level and low-level exceptions without having to worry about going over the tax and paying a dollar for dollar penalty for going over the tax.

 

Should Marion opt-out, then you are looking at $17-20 million in cap room and enough room to add a max contract free agent. They also could use Marion in a sign-and-trade deal for a player like Brand, or they could work out a contract extension with him and lower his cap number for next year. Otherwise, you let him play out next season and have a lot of cap room after next year.

 

Obviously, where the Heat ends up in the Lottery will determine what course they take in the offseason. If they get the #1 pick, then you have Beasley and Haslem or Marion become expendable(or more expendable then they are now). If they end up with #2, #3 or #4 and you get Rose or another PG, then they may chose to keep Haslem and let Marion play out his deal and use the cap room the following offseason.

 

Oh, my bad, I misunderstood cap room for open salary. I thought it was being said that the payroll wouldn't be less than it is now, in other words.

 

And yeah, I think Marion would be stupid to opt out of his contract. I really don't think he's even worth the 17-18 mil he's due.

he is when playing on a team with some semblence of talent...he is a pesky defender, solid rebounder, runs the floor well and has a crazy ass shot that somehow ends up with the ball going in a good amount of the time

I like Marion, hell I've got him on my fantasy team. But I think he lacks the ability to create his own shot that I'd like to see in a player getting max money. Nevertheless, if he stays, and we get a solid point guard and another good big man, we should have a good team.

I think at this point I'd be surprised if Marion stays. I realize he was anxious to get out of Phoenix but he's gotta be miserable here.

I think at this point I'd be surprised if Marion stays. I realize he was anxious to get out of Phoenix but he's gotta be miserable here.

 

He'll be a lot less miserable with a healthy D-Wade and possibly Michael Beasley here next year.

I think at this point I'd be surprised if Marion stays. I realize he was anxious to get out of Phoenix but he's gotta be miserable here.

 

He'll be a lot less miserable with a healthy D-Wade and possibly Michael Beasley here next year.

 

I agree. The Heat will be better...they can't possibly be any worse. Put Wade, Marion, possibly Beasley/Rose, and a few free agents and this team is back in the playoff hunt in the East. Having said that, I think the $$$ will be more of a determining factor in his decision than team performance. Also, it is just as likely that he does not opt-out and is still playing elsewhere through a sign-and-trade.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basketb...story?track=rss

 

NEW YORK - Simmering differences between the Heat and Shaquille O'Neal boiled over Wednesday, with the massive center lobbing massive volleys at his former team.

 

In a column in the Boston Globe, O'Neal trashed former teammates and his former coach while speaking about his move to the title-contending Suns.

 

"We have professionals who know what to do," O'Neal said of playing for the Suns. "No one is asking me to play with Chris Quinn or Ricky Davis. I'm actually on a team again."

 

Until Wednesday, most in the Heat organization had attempted to frame the Feb. 6 deal that sent O'Neal to Phoenix for forward Shawn Marion and guard Marcus Banks as a win-win transaction, allowing O'Neal to remain in the playoff race and the Heat to begin to rebuild.

 

However O'Neal's comments struck a chord with both Heat coach Pat Riley and Davis, as the Heat prepared for Wednesday night's game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden,

 

"It's sad that he says those things," Riley said. "We shared so much here, together, for three years, good and bad, three and a half years.

 

"I just think it's sad that he's got to do that."

 

Davis initially downplayed the comment, saying, "You can't take stuff personally in the NBA. You'd go crazy."

 

But with time to reflect, he later said, "It shows his true colors."

 

Quinn was diplomatic.

 

"To be honest with you, I don't have too much to say about it," he said. "I don't know. But it didn't hurt me."

 

Despite during the best of times calling his coach "the great Pat Riley," O'Neal apparently took a contrasting view as the team stumbled to the bottom of the standings.

 

"I guess when you have a lot of power, you can do what you want," O'Neal told the Globe of Riley's personnel moves. "Me? If I ever came into that kind of power, I think I'd be willing to admit it if I messed up."

 

Riley, in fact, has mentioned numerous times that he deserves a failing grade for his offseason personnel moves, moves limited by the $20 million annual salary he granted O'Neal as part of a five-year, $100 million contract agreement in the 2005 offseason.

 

Riley reiterated that Wednesday.

 

"I've taken blame, basically, for this," Riley said. "The buck stops at the top. I wish him nothing but the best. I don't have anything but good feeling for Shaq. I mean it. I don't care what he's saying right now."

 

Riley stopped short of saying there had to be a parting.

 

"He didn't want to be there," Riley said of when the Heat found itself trapped at the bottom of the standings. "He didn't want to play for that kind of situation. He's 35 years old and he wanted to go to a contender. And we sent him there. We sent him to Utopia and we're here left with the carnage. And I don't know why he's not happy."

 

The team previously had gone as far as to afford O'Neal significant time off to rehabilitate a sore left hip, only to have O'Neal say that he did not get proper treatment until he arrived in Phoenix.

 

"It's really a shame that he would insult those people like that," Riley said of the Heat medical staff. "Because they gave him care. They cared. They didn't kiss his butt. They cared about trying to get him well. I don't think that is the right thing for him to do. He can do whatever he wants to me. I don't care. What upsets me is that those men sort of get tainted."

 

In the interview with the Globe, which came in advance of Wednesday's Celtics-Suns game in Boston, O'Neal portrayed himself as the victim.

 

"Ever since I was a little kid," he said, "I've been the scapegoat when things went wrong... I understand being the scapegoat comes with being the superstar...

 

"But when you have no control how things are handled, and you are still the scapegoat, I don't go for that."

 

O'Neal did own up to the ugliness of the parting.

 

"I have not left any of the teams on good notes," he told the Globe. "We players have our own little fraternity. We talk about stuff, so I've got to figure the coaches do, too...

 

"So I came to Phoenix prepared to show them what kind of person I am."

 

 

Dam Shaq, if you didnt want to be a scapegoat, why did you never bother to get in shape before a season, or why didnt you care about regular season games. He disses Quinn, who shows more grit and heart on the floor than he even did, plays the full 40+ minutes in a losing effort while making the league minimum while Shaq was sitting on the bench, making more in one game than anyone in the league, laughing with some people, like he didnt have a care in the world. What kind of person are you, Shaq?

I love Shaq, but he needs to STFU and worry about his current teammates and coaches.

Im starting to lose my respect for shaq. Everytime he leaves a team, he leaves talking smack about the others. What the hell/ Why can he just STFU? And why is he bashing Quinn and Davis? Sure they suck, but he himself didnt do jack squat to win games either. He played fat and lazy and we actually played better when he wasnt in the lineup half assing everything he did....

This team defenetely needs a PG, so that would be Arenas. But if we don't get the #1 pick, so cant get Michael Beasley, then we should get Brand, because we need someone up there. This is going to be an interesting offseason. For once in awhile, Im not interested in Heat games. They're just worthless

I like Elton Brand and Gilbert Arenas. If we get either one I'd be excited.

This team defenetely needs a PG, so that would be Arenas. But if we don't get the #1 pick, so cant get Michael Beasley, then we should get Brand, because we need someone up there. This is going to be an interesting offseason. For once in awhile, Im not interested in Heat games. They're just worthless

Except Arenas isn't really a PG. This team would be a complete mess with Arenas, Wade, and no true center. Arenas and Wade could easily average 8+ turnovers a night and when those two guys handle the rock most of the game, that isn't a good thing. We lost multiple games this year because we didn't have a PG who could slow things down during the end of the game. For some reason, Riley thought it was a good idea to let Wade handle the ball and it never works. No way in hell do I want Arenas here. Brand is at least a big body who can get physical. In the East, a healthy Wade and Brand with Haslem, Wright, a good draft pick, and a decent PG should be enough to get us back to respectable.