The season is more than half over, yet the Nets are getting their first visit at the Izod Center from the Miami Heat tonight, which means we have our first Bloggers Talks of the season featuring Surya Fernandez from the TrueHoop blog, Hot Hot Hoops.
NAS: Since the Nets are one of those teams looking to spend this summer, we’re obviously interested in what people think about the status of Dwyane Wade in Miami. Deep down, do you think he stays, or will he look to go elsewhere if the situation is right (like if he could go play with LeBron James in Brooklyn)?
If you would have asked me this before the season I would have been 50/50 on this but the more the season is progressing I’m more and more convinced that Wade, Lebron and (to a slightly lesser extent) Bosh will stay with their current teams. Yeah, I think Miami has an outside shot at convincing Bosh to sign with them and Lebron’s ego is perhaps getting a bit too grandiose for Cleveland and would suit Brooklyn better but of the three I’m most convinced that Wade stays with Miami. Just because other teams could sign him doesn’t mean their teams don’t have just as many question marks as the Heat’s roster does. But what makes Miami’s situation so unique is that they have no bad contracts and are in prime position to reload their roster anyway Riley (or Wade) sees fit.
NAS: The Heat are clinging to one of the last playoff spots in the East and are around .500. Given the team’s performance the past couple of years, do you get the sense that the franchise is in a bit of a holding pattern? Not good enough to win anything, but not bad enough to warrant blowing the whole thing up and starting again?
No question the Heat is in a holding pattern and many of the fans bemoan a sense of wasted years of Wade’s prime. Heck, many fans (despite the championship!) still lament the Heat had to let go of a young Caron Butler and a resurgent Lamar Odom for Shaq. The Heat surprise no one that they’re .500 and, at best, show flashes of overachieving. At least they have their “go-to” guy in Wade and he is capable of lifting their overall play against quality opponents.
NAS: With Cleveland reportedly close to trading for Amare Soutdemire, a name that’s been linked to the Heat, is there anyone else out there on the trade market you feel is worth pursuing?
The Heat have too many plugs to fill on this roster and it just might be worth it to wait it out and be patient until the summer. As long as the player has an expiring contract, like Roger Mason or Kurt Thomas, I would offer anyone short of Wade and Beasley. I don’t see the point in getting someone less than an All-Star at the moment because it most likely won’t be enough to get the Heat out of the first round.
