Miami Heat will NOT win the NBA Title next year

• givetallugot

  Yes, they have the best trio in the game, but after that they will have to sign a bunch of minimum salary guys. What happens if one or two of them get into foul trouble? What happens if one of them gets injured?
  
  Miami will lack depth, something the Celtics, Lakers, and Magic have. The players for each of those teams have also been playing together for a while and know their roles on the team.
  
  Look at the Celtics, they have the BIG 3, plus Rondo. Pierce can score and defend, Rondo is a great playmaker and has excellent court vision, Ray Allen still has the sweetest shot in the game, and KG can get it done when healthy. They also have Kendrick Perkins (yes, I know he is injured) Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Jermaine O'Neal, and Rasheed Wallace (yes, he might retire) to play quality minutes and use good fouls against Bosh down low, or against D-Wade and LeBron when they drive. Bosh can't compete with that size and depth down low. Heck, even Nate Robinson had his moments.
  
  You might say "Well, look at Boston. They had their BIG 3 and won a championship in their first year." Yes, but each of those players complimented each other offensively, something LeBron and D-Wade will have a hard time doing. I'll go into that later.
  
  Look at the defending champion Lakers. They have the best scorer in the game, Kobe Bryant. Kobe has played the last two seasons with a BROKEN FINGER. He is having surgery this off-season to fix that. Andrew Bynum played most of the playoffs with a bad knee. He is having surgery this off-season to fix that. Pao Gasol hit the weight room and was a beast this postseason. He has to be considered on of the three best big men in the game (Dwight Howard, Pao Gasol, and Chris Bosh, sorry Tim Duncan, you're a little old). They have 3 very productive players at 7 feet tall. Bosh can't take them 3 on 1. Ron Artest is the best big man perimeter defender in the game. Lamar Odom presents a mismatch for every team because of his size and quickness. Derek Fisher is a veteran and both Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown provide quality minutes off the bench.
  
  The Magic have Dwight Howard to defend and score. They surrounded him with great perimeter shooters in Jameer Nelson, JJ Redik and Rashard Lewis. Rashard, like Lamar Odom, presents a mismatch for every team with his outside shooting and size. Vince Carter can create his own shot and Gortat is the best center coming off the bench.
  
  Okay...so what? The Heat still have the "Miami Trice"
  
  Okay, yeah...BUT! The Heat will be an excellent transition and defensive team and yes, they will also fill up the highlight reel. However, I think they will really struggle in their half court offense (very important in the post-season) because LeBron and D-Wade won't compliment each other offensively. LeBron and D-Wade both play similar styles of basketball. They both need the ball in their hands to be effective and they both like to get to the paint and score, or draw a foul. If they don't have a shot, then they dish it out to wide open shooter. So if LeBron or D-Wade drives to the paint and dishes it out to the other superstar, then either LeBron or D-Wade will have to settle for a set jump shot, something they are not great at. Mario Chalmers is probably going to be the starting PG and he is only a 30% 3 point shooter.
  
  Teams will just have to pack it in inside and let them shoot. Teams like Boston or LA can also use up their fouls when D-Wade or Lebron drive because they have a ton of depth. Bosh, LeBron, D-Wade, and Chalmers (the only 4 players on the Heat roster) are all mediocre free throw shooters. Free throw shooting makes a huge difference in games, especially come playoff time.
  
  The Heat are in desperate need of outside shooters and another C/PF to defend and grab boards. If Bosh gets in foul trouble, or gets injured, then the Heat are in more trouble than if just D-Wade or LeBron got injured or in foul trouble. LeBron and D-Wade both look to create their own shot, so it really own't matter that the other superstar is on the floor.
  
  Lakers vs Celtics again in the finals. The Celtics have one more crack at a title. They'll beat the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Lakers will beat the Mavericks or Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
  
  Enough said.
• Skyhook79

  

  Duh!!! The Lakers already won the Title this year.
• givetallugot

  Okay, my bad, next year. I changed the name of the thread.
• killdeer

  

  we need to throw this up on vBookie if anyone wants to keep the wager open that long
• wildcats20

  

  Vegas still has the Cavs at 20-1 to win the title....
• givetallugot

  ^^^Hey, they did win 66 games last year. They had that one guy who quit on them during the playoffs, but he's not there anymore, so they should be fine.
• jpake1

  

  The roster has yet to be filled out, but trust me, the Miami Heat won't be hurting for depth. They'll get gets that deserve more than the min to play for it because they want rings. Let's have this conversation again in about another year.
• IggyPride00

  

  They will be thin the next year or 2. After the have had 2 off seasons of bringing in talented players for the mid-level exception and maybe hitting on a draft pick or 2 they will be down right scary.
  
  I expect year 3, 4 at the absolute latest to be the one where they launch a full on assault of the 96 Bulls and the 72 wins.
  
  Depth was always going to be an issue the first year, but after a couple of seasons of adding Ron Artest/Trevor Ariza types with the mid level I am not sure how any team in the NBA will be able to compete with them as they will have depth.
• Mulva

  

  givetallugot;417931 wrote:Yes, they have the best trio in the game, but after that they will have to sign a bunch of minimum salary guys.

  Aren't they about to sign Mike Miller?
• IggyPride00

  

  Mulva;418435 wrote:Aren't they about to sign Mike Miller?

  
  Yeah.
  
  His 48% 3 point % should come in handy next year with all the open shots he will likely get.
• jpake1

  

  I don't think there depth will be an issue at all really. They're in talks with Matt Barnes, Arroy, White Chocolate, Mike James, Raja Bell, Iverson, Z, and are still in talks with Haslem (sorta one of those, we'll pay you shit this year, but you'll get the full MLE next year type of thing).
• Rotinaj

  

  Mulva;418435 wrote:Aren't they about to sign Mike Miller?

  
  I bet hes creaming his pants about this too. Luckiest man in the world.
• wildcats20

  

  jpake1;418440 wrote:I don't think there depth will be an issue at all really. They're in talks with Matt Barnes, Arroy, White Chocolate, Mike James, Raja Bell, Iverson, Z, and are still in talks with Haslem (sorta one of those, we'll pay you shit this year, but you'll get the full MLE next year type of thing).

  
  Of those guys...
  
  You want....
  Haslem(great backup for Bosh, always has been a solid player IMO)
  Matt Barnes...scrappy, defender, can shoot
  Raja Bell...defense..
  
  But they HAVE to get 2 big bodies, or it's going to be rough IMO. And of course make that deal with Mike Miller happen ASAP.
• jpake1

  

  They'll get some bodies. They'll be decent. I think it'll be enough to make them champions. I honestly think Joel Anthony wil be a solid center for them. Rebound and play defense. Maybe get an easy bucket here and there. He was the beat Heat player at setting screens. They'll get a big vet guy like Z, Wallace, then maybe target somebody like Big Cat or Kurt Thomas, then fill out with Dexter Pittman. It won't be anything pretty, but just enough bodies to help them get a ring IMO.
• IggyPride00

  

  Somewhere Kobe Bryant is in a gym right now practicing because he is seething over the big 3.
  
  Just like he played out of his mind in the playoffs last year (minus game 7) because he was tired of hearing about how he had passed the torch to Lebron, I look for him to take this as a challenge and an affront to his manhood.
  
  He would love nothing more than to play, and beat, the Heat in the finals considering the hype that will undoubtedly follow them this season.
  
  He turns 32 this month I think. Jordan won his last title at age 36, and probably still had another season or so in him at that level.
  
  That means at least through the duration of the 5 years of Wade/Bosh/James deal, you can expect Kobe to be a factor and not just lay down and die because a super team is on the prowl.
  
  The Lakers biggest hope long term has got to be that as Kobe and Pau are slowing down in 3-4 years that Bynum will have continued to develop and is able to stay healthy as he could become a physically dominant post presence. He is not even 23 yet and has gained a world of experience and improvement. Big men have always developed slowly, and there is no reason in a few years he can't average a something 24 and 12 over the course of a season if he can stay healthy.
  
  The one area Miami will always have trouble getting a star at center. They will pick too high in the draft, and you don't get those kind of guys in free agency with the mid level.
  
  Bosh is naturally a very soft player like Pau was before Boston kicked his ass (and made him a man), and is more comfortable away from the basket than banging down low. I think teams like Orlando, Boston, L.A are going to try and just overwhelm Miami with size to try and exploit the fact that Miami will be thin up front.
• Footwedge

  Anything can happen in sports....but the Heat should destroy people. But it's all good. I'm no longer an NBA fan. When 3 of the top 5 guys in the league can collude and join and form a stacked team, then the competitive spirit is destroyed. When the competitive spirit is destroyed, then the interest disappears right along with it.
  
  Look at baseball and the Yankees. What exactly did the Yankees accomplish last year? To me...absolutely nothin.
• jpake1

  

  As soon as he signed I looked at my buddy and said Kobe just picked up his car keys and is driving to the Staples Center right now while Cavs fans debate between suicide or a public hanging of LBJ. Make no mistake about it... the Lakers ARE THE TEAM TO BEAT, plain and simple. That roster is awesome. I don't really see how Jordan's age means anything-- he did retire a couple times and didn't come straight from HS. Kobe will have more miles on his legs than MJ. Doesn't really mean anything either way though. The Lakers and other teams, will most definitely aim for the frontcourt players of the Heat. That's the weakness of that team.
• Azubuike24

  

  The reason the Heat won't lack depth or talent outside of those guys is because others are going to come there for way less just to mooch on a possible ring. It's bad enough for a team to load up on 3 premier players, but as we've seen with Boston, Orlando, Cleveland, Los Angeles and a few others, players are actually undercutting market value to join these teams.
  
  That's the dangerous part about the NBA. Some of these guys make such ridiculous money before they are 30 years old, they can literally afford a season or 2 to play for far less and load up a half-dozen current teams. Look at just last year alone, all of the players who took less than market value to play for the primetime contenders. Leon Powe in Cleveland, Rasheed Wallace in Boston, Ron Artest in Los Angeles and numerous others during the season.
• AcidBurn

  

  my longshot. shaq signs for the vets minimum. also, you would be surprised how many 30 year old decent players are only making the league minimum. espn named some this afternoon that surprised me. they'll be fine.
• IggyPride00

  

  There is going to be an epic labor battle after next season and frankly I would not be surprised if we lose the 2011-12 season, and what happened in Miami might have served as the catalyst to owners digging their heals in deeper.
  
  Free agent spending has been outrageous so far and the cap higher than expected, but something like 20 of the 32 teams did lose money. Now the ones that didn't made some major bank, but there is a serious competitive imbalance forming that is going to end up hurting all but 7-8 teams in the league if talent continues to be forced to consolidate to have a chance to win because of the Celtic's, Heat and Lakers of the world.
  
  The owners can't seem to stop themselves so they are planning on putting safeguards in place for themselves by cutting down max deals and going for a hard cap, or at least a soft cap that is so punitive teams literally won't be able to afford to spend over it.
  
  The players don't want to give back a dime, and the owners of everyone but the big market teams are tired of $80+ million dollar payrolls when the cap is supposed to be in the $50's.
  
  Teams like the Lakers/Heat/Celtics may find themselves considerably handcuffed/screwed if enough owners band together on the new CBA to cripple the trend of talent consolidation by imposing some sort of hard cap that ensures we can never see 3 or even 2 max guys goto the same team again.
• Trueblue23

  

  JA Adande just made my night. He said Kobe is like a hyena, 100% locked in on his prey. "You have all this stuff going on in the East, and Kobe, the hyena of the NBA, is sitting in Los Angeles waiting to slay this team in the Finals."
• devil1197

  Can I join team LAL when they play Miami?
• jpake1

  

  Make no mistake about it, Kobe's blood is boiling. LBJ the best? Miami the best? Kobe Bryant and Co. will put that to the test. If those teams get there, the finals will be EPIC.
• Trueblue23

  

  devil1197;418701 wrote:Can I join team LAL when they play Miami?

  
  Absolutely brother.
• AcidBurn

  

  have to get by the thunder again.