radikalBaller wrote:Generally Riley still lives in the 80S/90s and sucks at drafting bigs, wayne simiens, dexter pittman, wanted Kaman over wade, jarvis varnado, robert dozier, micheal beasley, matt freije, jerome beasley...and so on...
Even with that Final Four triple-double, Wade wasn't who you typically wanted. Kaman seemed more of a sure thing.
Wayne Simie
n would have been a solid PF next to Shaq when he was drafted, but he ran into some bad luck, injuries, and a veteran hierarchy under a veteran coach when he was drafted. You gotta understand, when Wayne Simien was drafted, SVG was still the coach, who was much more open to playing younger players. Then Riley swung that mega-trade for Walker, Posey, and Williams.
Then, Riley took over about 10 games in. As a rookie, he wasn't getting minutes ahead of Walker, Haslem, or Posey. I distinctly remember a
solid performance from Wayne one night vs. Indiana when UD got thrown out after a brief dust-up with Jermaine O'Neal. Didn't fill up the stat sheet, but played very well.
He was supposed to improve, but he caught salmonella that offseason. Didn't do much as a result the next year, then got traded to Minnesota, where he blew out his knee and that was the game. Wayne was a born-again Christian, so he eventually quit pro ball after a stint in Europe in order to join the ministry. No question, he was a HEAT player in the sense that there was both talent and character there at the 29th pick in 2005.
Matt Freije was the 53rd pick in 2004. Everyone else after that pick was trash. Robert Dozier was the 60th pick in 2009. Come on. Jarvis Varnado? Meh, there was really no one else in that 2010 draft beyond #39.
Michael Beasley's time in Miami was seemingly doomed from the start. A clash of culture, a first-year coach, the insistence on playing him at PF instead of SF where he flourished in Minnesota before that all fell apart over there.
All draft picks are risks. It happens.