The HEAT Blog: The Joy of Being A True HEAT Fan

The Miami Heat open its 22^nd season on October 28, 2009; that’s 39 days away. What has the Heat done this off-season to prove to the league that they belong in the conversation as one of the elite teams in the east? Nothing at all, the biggest stories coming this off-season about the Heat have been, Michael Beasley’s rehab (we all hope he is doing well), and Dwyane Wade’s rant on how he wants better teammates to compete for a title (I don’t blame him. If I was him, I would be very frustrated right about now), and the pay-cut Pat Riley and the rest of the staff received.  In other news on the Heat, Miami almost made a huge splash in the off-season pool by almost acquiring Lamar Odom (but if you don’t know, almost only works in horse-shoe games, and hand grenades). They there was the rumor of Miami trading Udonis Haslem and Mark Blount to the Utah Jazz for the All-Star forward Carlos Boozer… That didn’t happen. Then we had talks about Iverson… He’s in Memphis now.  That’s the problem with off-seasons, that’s why sometimes I love them and sometimes I loathe them.  Don’t think that Pat Riley doesn’t see all the other teams in the east get an upgrade, the Orlando Magic acquired Vince Carter from the Nets, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Shaquille O’Neal from theSuns,the Detroit Pistons acquired Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon via free agency, the Washington Wizards acquired Randy Foye and Mike Miller from the Timberwolves, the Boston Celtics acquired Rasheed Wallace via free agency, and even the Charlotte Bobcats made a significant trade by acquiring Tyson Chandler from the New Orleans Hornets. So my question is simple, what has he done to keep up with them?

Acording to Erik Spoelstra, having Jermaine O’Neal and Dorell Wright back in full health is like “signing two key free agents”… as much as I respect J-O and DWright, I don’t think that’s a fair statement by Coach Spo. The only thing Miami did this offseason was acquire Quentin Richardson from the Timberwolves for Mark Blount. Big trade there… expecially when it’s the third time Richardson was traded this off-season. Why does Miami need another forward in the line-up? We already have Joel Anthony, Michael Beasley, Yakhouba Diawara, Udonis Haslem, James Jones, and Dorell Wright. That’s six players out of the 13 players currently on the roster. Sure, Anthony can play center, but he is still a forward. Now we add Q-Rich to the mix, how is this going to play out? I’m not even sure Erik Spoelstra knows what he is going to do with an abundance of forwards.

I hope that Pat Riley has something up his Armani sleeves when it comes to trading for a guard… we need one desperately. Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn are great, don’t get me wrong. But we need a veteran point guard that can come in and close a game… Jamaal Tinsley seems like a good fit… Riley says he isn’t interested. Bonzi Wells has also expressed interest in playing for Miami (via Twitter none the less) but Riley, again, isn’t interested. Let’s all hope and have faith that Pat Riley knows what he is doing. Remember, he has re-built the Heat franchise many times from the ground, this could be another one of his great works, let’s just wait and see.