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I was very young in the expansion year and didn't follow the offseason at all back then. I also was a few years from moving to south Florida so I really don't remember it at all.

Anyway I remember following some interesting draft links when I was looking up when someone was drafted and somehow I got to the 1988 expansion draft page. I saw that the two best teams in the league (Celtics and Lakers) made trades with us so that we wouldn't take their aging former star players (Dennis Johnson and Kareem). That seemed like a smart move to make a deal to get something since we were going to be a rebuilding team so it didn't make sense to take aging stars.

But then I saw what we got. The Celtics gave us a second round pick to not pick Johnson. The Lakers gave us a second round pick FOUR YEARS LATER to not pick Kareem.

Why didn't we push harder to get more out of the trades? We should have been able to at least get first round picks or at the very least a second round pick before 1992 from the Lakers.

The funny thing is we got a first round pick from the Mavs to not pick Bill Wennington, Uwe Blabb and Steve Alford.

Couldn't we have gotten at least a future first for not picking Kareem or Johnson? They were both way passed their prime but they were still starters on the two #1 seeds the previous season.

I would have bluffed harder that I was going to pick them. Or picked them lol. I mean its not like we got anyone good in the expansion draft anyway (charlotte did way better than us). Kareem and/or Dennis Johnson would have been a draw at the very least.

I believe there was some rule where we had lower salary caps and I know those guys were expensive, but we could have at least bluffed harder that we were going to take them. Their teams must have thought there was a possibility we were going to take them to even offer second round picks.

Anyway I know this is a very inane and irrelevant question, but I've always wondered about this. I know its a longshot that anyone was following transactions of the Heat all the way back then who still posts now, especially since there wasn't the internet back then but if anyone knows anything about it, I'd love to hear more about our expansion draft plans.

I was about 7 or 8 but still a sport fanatic..

When starting a young basketball club, picking guys at the end of there career is not a good move
beside if I remember correctly Mycheal Thompson was pick by the Heat
once a player was pick from a team ..that team was allow to protect a player (Kareem )

Many team use this strategy of placing aging vet in the draft...
The Heat expansion draft was pretty bad ,but out of the 4 expansion teams Cha,(Min and orl.
enter the league a year after) the HEAT are the only team with a Championship....

I agreed that it wouldn't be a good move, but we could have at least bluffed like we were going to get them. Both those teams must have been at least a little worried we would pick their guys otherwise they wouldn't have offered anything.

And at worst, why not pick up two hall of famers? Its not like we got anyone worthwhile in the expansion draft anyway.

You can't tell me we couldn't have gotten better from two title contenders to not pick their aging hall of fame starters when Dallas gave us a 1st round pick not to pick their pu-pu platter of guys.

And no we picked Billy Thompson from the Lakers.

Many teams use that strategy but both the Lakers and Celtics still wanted to keep their guys and were afraid we would take them.

My question was just why did we agree not to so cheaply.

Don't know the ins and outs of those decisions, but I do know Miami had a shot at Hakeem in the early 90s and passed on it.

Hakeem + Rice could've been a title team. Ugh.

mopper8 wrote:Don't know the ins and outs of those decisions, but I do know Miami had a shot at Hakeem in the early 90s and passed on it.

Hakeem + Rice could've been a title team. Ugh.

Yeah I vaguely remember something like that because I was around by the early 90s. I wasn't as skeptical as I am now back then but looking back on it, I don't know how real it was (that it was ever proposed by them or that we turned it down)