The Retooling Thread: What do we do now

[SA37]

I wasn't aware how few teams will be significantly under the cap. I found this out trying to create what I thought was the perfect scenario. I thought we could:

1) Trade Marion in the same way that Golden State traded J-Rich for a draft pick. I was hoping we could do it with the same team, the Bobcats, trading Marion for their pick (around 6-8) considering Marion > J-Rich, has a shorter contract and they traded the 8th last year.

Why does Charlotte want to give up a pick for a guy who really doesn't make them anymore of a threat than they are now? Plus, they already have Gerald Wallace at his spot.

Sure, you could say, 'Well, they could turn around and deal Marion's expiring deal for help," but if that is the case, why can't Miami do the same thing?

I think Marion, if you're looking to deal him, is a much more valuable trading chip than a $15 million TE. Basically, with a TE, you're looking for someone who wants to dump players. I don't necessarily see that as a sound strategy or as a way to rebuild quickly, which is apparently the plan.

[tessai]

Marty, I like that plan but the one incorrect thing you wrote is the possibility of splitting up the $15M TPE on multiple players - that is not allowed, it could only be used on one player. And if we were already right at the luxury tax line, it's doubtful we would pick up another near max player.

But with the lineups we would have, we could just let the TPE expire and still have a competitive team AND be in a decent place financially.

[unowen85]

Marty, I like that plan but the one incorrect thing you wrote is the possibility of splitting up the $15M TPE on multiple players - that is not allowed, it could only be used on one player. And if we were already right at the luxury tax line, it's doubtful we would pick up another near max player.

But with the lineups we would have, we could just let the TPE expire and still have a competitive team AND be in a decent place financially.

Actually, he was right. If the Heat had a $15 TPE, they could use it to acquire a player making $8 million, and then use the remaining amount to acquire another player making $7 million. I can vouch for MartyConlonJr's credibility.

[tessai]

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Actually, he was right. If the Heat had a $15 TPE, they could use it to acquire a player making $8 million, and then use the remaining amount to acquire another player making $7 million. I can vouch for MartyConlonJr's credibility.

Oops, yeah, you guys are right. I was confusing that scenario with the fact that you can't combine a TPE and a player to acquire a higher salaried player.

[Ballwise]

Well I like Marty's idea, but as mentioned before, Charlotte will have very few interest in my opinion to get Marion. He might be able to fill their void at PF but that's about it. Furthermore, they would be paying him, Okafor and J-Rich Max money so that's not going to be cheap for an undersized PF. Finally, they really need to adress their PG situation, since Felton is more of a shoot-first PG and with a PG-loaded draft... .

A team that actually might be interested in Marion, maybe not financialy, would be Milwaukee. They desperately need a good wing player and they will get a pretty high pick. Furthermore we might be able to do something like a Mo Williams for Banks and Smush kind of deal . Because otherwise we would be giving Marion up for nothing besides a TPE .

Anyway, I just think Milwaukee might be a better trade partner, or maybe even Portland if they get a high pick (and they are not under the cap so I don't know how that works out with TPE's).

[Hoops23]

Whats wrong in using the MLE for players like Turiaf or Kwame?
Kurt Thomas will sign for a contender. Okafor is worth more than the MLE.

[miamiballer]

Could this team be a contender?

Haslem/Blount
Beasley
Marion/wright
wade/cook
Navarro or Duhon/Banks

we would run 9 deep with wright, blount, cook and banks off the bench

[Hoops23]

Could this team be a contender?

Maybe a playoff team. I doubt that roster will make it in the top 5 in the east. But its not bad since Miami is rebuilding.

IMO Duhon will fit well than JCN because of his defense. JCN is not bad as a 2nd choice, so does Calderon.

[SA37]

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Whats wrong in using the MLE for players like Turiaf or Kwame?
Kurt Thomas will sign for a contender. Okafor is worth more than the MLE.

He's Kwame friggin' Brown, that is what is wrong with it. For one year or two, the second being a team option, at the league minimum or something in that range, I could accept taking a chance to see if maybe, just maybe, he could actually turn into a rotational player.

I like Turiaf, but we already have a better version in Haslem. If we traded Haslem, I would look into Turiaf for around $2-3 million per, but it depends what the long-term plan for Miami is and if that money would be saved to go towards a high-salaried player.

[heat4life]

What some of you guys are not understanding is that VERY FEW rookies come into this league and are ready to contribute as part of a regular rotation on a contending team. Is it possible? yes but it is highly unlikely.

I like Beasley and he might look as the consensus #1 pick but the truth is that we DO NOT know if it is going to translate to NBA right away. Why do we count him as our starting PF/SF to save us? Placing your hope on a rookie to produce is not smart and I don't care who it is. Even LeBron with all the stats had to adjust the league before he learned how to win.

I highly doubt Riles thinks about using our lottery pick as a starter. If it happens and we get DWade II then great but I don't think we should base our offseason on the expectations we place on a rookie. The ideal thing would be for that lottery pick to break the rotation by mid season. That is a succesful draft.

IMO, we need to concentrate on getting veteran help via free agency or via trade and work our lottery pick into our rotation. Let's worry about who the best Defensive Center we can sign is or the best PG for our rotation regardless if we expect Beaslet to be a starter or not.

We need:

1 - low post defense and rebounding
2 - Playmaking PG with high shooting range
3 - 3pt shooters
4 - Keep developing our youth

[CRHeel94]

Could this team be a contender?

Haslem/Blount
Beasley
Marion/wright
wade/cook
Navarro or Duhon/Banks

we would run 9 deep with wright, blount, cook and banks off the bench

It's not a bad team but you probably need another big up front at the 5 to get through the grind of a season. You would also need a shooter; that team is light from the perimeter, or really hope that Cook makes a big improvement. A lot hinges on how good Beasley would be; I think he'll be great eventually but not from the get-go.

[MartyConlonJr]

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Why does Charlotte want to give up a pick for a guy who really doesn't make them anymore of a threat than they are now? Plus, they already have Gerald Wallace at his spot.

I thought of this when I saw the lineup Charlotte goes with these days.

C - Okafor
PF - Wallace
SF - Richardson
SG - Felton
PG - McInnis

With four of their best players out of position I thought the move would improve them while letting most of them play their proper position and improve the team more than a draft pick. Marion also fits the style they are trying to play to a T and the move for J-Rich last season led me to believe they are ready to compete now.

C - Okafor
PF - Marion
SF - Wallace
SG - Richardson
PG - Felton

That team looks pretty good to me. Which might be a reason not to do it.

I think Marion, if you're looking to deal him, is a much more valuable trading chip than a $15 million TE. Basically, with a TE, you're looking for someone who wants to dump players. I don't necessarily see that as a sound strategy or as a way to rebuild quickly, which is apparently the plan.

I was seeing it as getting the cap space twice, as well as a high draft pick. You get the max space to sign Brand, get a 6-8 pick, and then get a TPE to get 1 or 2 players. Which is why I doubt it is legal. To trade Marion probably nets you a max type player (probably not as good as Brand) and the MLE and LLE instead of the TPE.

You can include draft picks with the TPE, so I am pretty sure you can get something. There's a decent chance Artest takes his player option so we could negotiate to trade for him. Sacramento is going to lose him for nothing in that case, why not ensure he goes to the East, and get 3 2nd rounders out of it?

If we had a TPE this season we could have turned that into Mike Miller and Brian Cardinal. Riley's trade stated they wanted a pick for that package, but take away J-Will's 9 million salary they were taking on for this season (TPE in exchange costs nothing) and its probably worth the pick they wanted, seeing as one team often sells their draft pick for $3 mill or less during the NBA draft.

[SA37]

I just don

[heat4life]

Foyle was waived and plays for Orlando.

I don't see us trading Marion at all unless it is for a superstar to play next to Wade. Pat Riley is not in the "rebuilding thru the draft" business. He likes to develop young players but by putting them at the end of the bench and watch.

I think Riles goes for vets to compliment Wade. I could see him signing assets to possibly trade before the deadline IF we can't land anything significant during the summer. A deal with Golden State for their pick and Pietrus makes no sense if youhave to give up your 2nd best player.

[SA37]

Foyle was waived and plays for Orlando.`

Ah, then that would make the deal I talked about impossible, now wouldn

[heat4life]

I agree that Marion is NOT a 2nd option on a championship team and extending him anywhere near the $17mil he is due to make next season would be financial suicide.

I would want to think that he is a realistic person and know that a salary in the $10-$12 millions for the next 3-4 years are more than adequate for a 30+ years old former all-star that depends on his athletism to be productive. However, I also realize that NBA players think about money first more often than not. I just hope he doesn't feel the need to "feed his family" a la Sprewell.

Bottom line is that Marion IS an asset to this team, whether it is as a player or as an expiring contract. A much more interesting asset than Shaq at this time at least. If we draft Beasley and resign Wright then trading Marion is more of an option than not. If somehow we have to draft one of the "wannabe" PGs, then IMO Marion does fit as a running mate to Wade as long as we can add some defense on the low block.

[Lane1974]

one thing I like and am admiring about Marion is seemingly his positive attitude, energy, and hustle -- it seems genuine, or maybe it's just trying to impress the new team but it's something we were missing last year and this year.

[SA37]

I agree that Marion is NOT a 2nd option on a championship team and extending him anywhere near the $17mil he is due to make next season would be financial suicide.

I would want to think that he is a realistic person and know that a salary in the $10-$12 millions for the next 3-4 years are more than adequate for a 30+ years old former all-star that depends on his athletism to be productive. However, I also realize that NBA players think about money first more often than not. I just hope he doesn't feel the need to "feed his family" a la Sprewell.

Bottom line is that Marion IS an asset to this team, whether it is as a player or as an expiring contract. A much more interesting asset than Shaq at this time at least. If we draft Beasley and resign Wright then trading Marion is more of an option than not. If somehow we have to draft one of the "wannabe" PGs, then IMO Marion does fit as a running mate to Wade as long as we can add some defense on the low block.

I don

[heat4life]

one thing I like and am admiring about Marion is seemingly his positive attitude, energy, and hustle -- it seems genuine, or maybe it's just trying to impress the new team but it's something we were missing last year and this year.

That has been refreshing for sure. The new positive attitude. That is the same reason why I was a bit disappointed that Ricky Davis, Smush Parker and even Jason Williams were not traded.

We need some more of that positive and energetic influence in this locker room. IMO Shaq's lackadistical attitude helped bring down that locker room since everyone looked at him as the leader. Same happened with Antoine Walker, Gary Payton and James Posey (hence why they were suspended last season). The self-entitlement attitude grew old in that locker room last season and got even worst this season with more young players looking for leadership.

There is no surprise that Wade's first comments about the trade were about his "re-energized" attitude. Wade still needs to develop his leadership skills if he is going to be the face of the franchise. I belive that Riley WILL convince Zo to give it one more go next season just to have a leader in that locker room to go with Wade.

[Lane1974]

its hard for the guys this year to have a positive attitude after the disaster that the season is (I am talking about Wade, Haslem, J-Will & Ricky), but Wade seemed to embrace the Marion trade as a fresh start, mentally. Haslem is a professional and he brings it every day. He might be the only one. (Except for Luke, before he was waived).