dancing2thabeet wrote:Why Ariza? Dont we have like 5 wing players already?
Ariza makes sense in a lot of ways.
1 - our biggest problem in the later rounds of the playoffs was perimeter D, and he upgrades that
2 - he can slide into Battier's role skillset wise -- great corner 3 shooter, heady defender -- but is more athletic
3 - he's the right age and has won a title before (playing well in the playoff run at that) so you're not worried about how he'll perform in those situations
Ariza doesn't make sense in a lot of ways
1 - he doesn't really improve our guard play
2 - he's not as strong as Battier, so you might be concerned about having him guard 4s
3 - there has to be some worry that he was a contract year performer who could come back down to earth
4 - he doesn't fix our rebounding problems
Now, Miami knows a lot more about Wade's and Oden's knees than we do, and we don't know how high they are on Napier. So they might not be as concerned with (1) & (2) as we are. After all, if they like Napier a lot and think Wade's knees will be better next season (no Ossatron this season), maybe (1) isn't as big a concern. And if Oden is starting again (like he was before he injured his back) with Bird backing him up, there's a lot less need for Ariza to guard 4s (taking care of concern 2). And if we are playing bigger with Oden/Bird next season, (4) might be a non-issue