String of signings now likely to slow for Miami Heat
When you’ve carved your roster down to two players, a number of signatures is naturally to be expected. But the last two weeks have been hard to keep up with as an observer.
From MiamiHeat.com, the order goes as such:
July 7: Heat agrees to re-sign Dwyane Wade and acquire Chris Bosh
July 8: Heat agrees to acquire LeBron James
July 12: Heat re-signs Udonis Haslem
July 16: Heat signs Mike Miller
July 18: Heat re-signs Joel Anthony
July 19: Heat signs second-round draft pick Dexter Pittman
July 19: Heat signs Zydrunas Ilgauskas
July 19: Heat re-signs Jamaal Magloire
July 20: Heat re-signs James Jones
July 20: Heat signs Juwan Howard
July 22: Heat re-signs Carlos Arroyo
That averages out to about one signing every 32 3/4 hours. That’s a lot of ink in a short amount of time.
It now appears, with Matt Barnes agreeing to terms with the Los Angeles Lakers, that the signings should be pretty darn well close to done at this point. The Heat could make one or two moves before the season starts if it decides to (and Jerry Stackhouse and Tracy McGrady sure hope they do), but what they have now is a lineup to go to battle with. It’s not the bare-bones scenario many scoffed at after Pat Riley nabbed Wade, James and Bosh. It’s a team that’s both pretty well constructed and full of connections that should create some instant chemistry. Ilgauskas connects to LeBron (teammates on Cavs), who connects to Bosh and Wade (explained enough), who connects to Haslem (gave up the most money to keep him around), who connects to Miller (roommates at the University of Florida). The only new acquisition who doesn’t have a strong bond to someone is Juwan Howard, and considering he’s the most veteran presence on the team, I doubt he’ll be creating too much trouble. Plus, if you count the couple of days he was a member of the Heat in 1996 before the contract voiding, he’s got a longer connection to the team than anyone on the court!
Kidding, of course. Barring any major surprises (and keep in mind – there have been a few this offseason), this is the team we’ll be watching this coming season. Maybe it’s not a best-case scenario (losing Matt Barnes is a negative, I guess), but it’s about as close as you’re ever going to get in life. Three of the leagues top 10 talents, surrounded by a steady hand who has won with this team before and solid veteran players. What more could you want?
50 comments
winning the finals vs the lakers that what i want
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:10 am
+1
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Matthew,
The Heat sure do have a lot to look forward to next year and for years to come. Losing out on Barnes (especially to the Lakers) was tough but with how fortunate the Heat have been it seems fair. Also I think Bosh’s reputation as a player have been given a massive boosts thanks to hitching on with LeBron and Wade, he is not a top 10 player. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Pau Gasol, Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki are 12 that I can think off the top of my head. He’s a good player but not top 10.
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Matthew Bunch Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:30 am
I put a lot of stock in John Hollinger’s PER ratings, and based on his formula, Bosh is the fourth-most efficient player in the league, behind James, Wade and Kevin Durant.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/hollinger/statistics
No one thinks of him as a great player because he’s been marooned in a foreign land for his career. Honestly, I’m more excited to see how Bosh is going to play in Miami than LeBron. Obviously James is better, but I think the people who are saying Bosh just hitched on for the ride are going to be proven very, very wrong in the coming years. He deserves to be in the conversation, and now he’s on a stage that will allow him to do that.
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:09 am
I think Bosh is an underrated player. i just saw him player in the nba all-star and about 2games in toronto but his tenacity is impressive.
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:10 am
erratum: i just saw him “played” in the nba all-star
shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:20 am
I am still waiting for monmon to comment on this
probably gonna go something like this
wow the lame 3 and waterboys
then call us losers and say kobe MVP
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:01 am
@shawn
let’s not bother the grumpy old dude who thinks his team is gonna hold on to the gold for the next 30years. he’s currently browsing the net for stuff to post here while working the phones at the morgue. let’s give him a breather, he’s had enough for the past days.
shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:18 am
lmao youre right
lets not bother the hater
yo big3 after lebron announced hes coming to miami
did u see the look on jon barry and michale wilbons face
that was priceless
Heat Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:33 pm
R u serious???? hell yea chris is a top 10 player!!!! Didn’t u see what he averged last season 24 and 10! in my opinion he is better then gasol just never had a supporting cast like the one he’s going to have in south beach.
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dwgsports Reply:
July 24th, 2010 at 2:51 am
Not Larry Hughes PLEASE??? Hughes offense cost Cleveland the finals. His ORtg vs. DRtg, playoff Offensive Rating = 8 to 10 points lower. A-I, Iverson if he will take a 7th or 8th man role??? J-Will OR sign Jarvis Varnado, with Bosh, Lebron and Wade all scoring in the paint, we can’t have too many shot blockers in the middle can we???
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I give LA some credit for actually making some noise of their own this offseason. By going after Bell and then signing Barnes, they did not stand by and cry about what the Heat were doing. Even though they won it all last year, they tried to retool and upgrade where they could.
I really hope that the Heat and Lakerws meet in the Finals. Of course I hope Miami wins, but the only semi-acceptable way to end the season would be to lose in the championship to the two time defending champs on their way to a 3peat.
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:53 am
the heat have to win anything less is unacceptable
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ao Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:54 pm
No doubt about that. But if we don’t make the eastern finals, (if we lose to the Celts in the playoffs I will have to kill myself) or if someone takes out the Lakers in the west and we lose to them, it would definitely be worse than losing to the two time defending champs.
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@shawn
i was not able to watch the “decision” live. i just saw the edited version on youtube. how did they react?
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:46 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4HUnUdLMCs here u go big3
imma leave u a message in the comment box
look at there faces
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:50 am
thanks for the link, shawn. i’ll check it out later. my internet connection is getting bad.
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 4:52 am
kool kool
restart your modem
turn it off wait 15 seconds and ur good 2 go
Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:45 am
can’t open the link, shawn. it says video is not available.
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:20 pm
hmmm just search youtube for lebron james decision jon barry
shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 12:39 pm
go the carlos arroyo post
moron doesn’t know pippen played point forward
proves our point
It is now up to the conductor. The musicians are complete, with their talents. How will Coach Spo create a system that will fit the way these talented group play, is something we shall closely watch. About 100 games to go before a title. There will be ups and downs. While I believe, as a proud Heat fan, this team can go all the way, the battle is more among themselves, as what Pat Riley said, the “peripheral enemies”, rather than the Lakers or other equally-worthy teams.
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If Tracy comes and still has some in the tank that would be awesome!
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Bring on the Lakers.
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Why don’t try to get Chris Paul? hehe , at least Jason Williams for point guard….
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Matt Barnes would have never seen the court if he played for us. He would have been playing behind LeBron and Miller. Barnes is a good defender, but he wont be spreading the floor anytime soon. He is pretty much a smaller Ron Artest, but at least they have some depth at that position now. I am going to be looking forward to that Christmas day game against the Lakers so we can finally shut them up.
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:11 pm
same with me Alex. laker fans or non-heat fans may say all the blah blah blah about how unsuccessful was the heat IN THE PAST. they may also say all the blah blah blah…they were back to back champions. but then again, IT’S THE PAST.
what we are looking into is the future. which is very scary for them.
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Finally shut them up?! I take it you have been more than unsuccessful in the past=) I’m a Lakers fan and I’m looking forward to the start of the season. I know the Lakers will make it to the finals, as they always do, it would be great to watch them play against eachother for the championship!
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:11 pm
another myopic view of dealing with the past.
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:15 pm
it came from your words lakergirl, the heat have been unsuccessful IN THE PAST. your championships were also achieved IN THE PAST.
now you better use your head and believe that with the formidable of the Heat now, you think the past really matters? don’t you have better issues to bring on the table to defend your point?
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
i meant “formidable team of the Heat now”.
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Big 3 go up and see what I wrote its funny
monmon Reply:
July 26th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
Of course you don’t want to talk about the past — coz you got none! One title in 22 yrs. One finals appearance. The only difference between the Heat and the Clippers is — one title. No wonder you’re all excited about the 3 hogs…
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Hi Matthew, I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog but find myself completely turned off by the Miami Heat’s actions in this off-season. Put it down to the fact that I’m geographically thousands of miles away and don’t have as much invested as those who live in and around the South Beach area….whatever….I’ve tried to remain objective however my perception of sports is that success should be worked for….not bought. Now I know that that isn’t the real world…god forbid! Sports are entirely motivated and ruled by the money they generate….but this move to corral both Bosh and James has left me cold. It is entirely glory hunting…Wade is all about himself….Michael Jordan and Magic have both seen it for what it is.
I’m going to follow Michael Beasley over to Minnesota to see how he gets on there. I wish you all the best with your blog and will drop in from time to time to see what you are saying regarding your “Three Kings”.
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Matthew Bunch Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:16 pm
Thanks for enjoying the blog Kevin, but I don’t see how your comments jibe with the truth. All sports is ever about is glory hunting. If players aren’t playing for glory, then the entire idea of competition is pointless.
And these players are doing exactly the opposite of what you’re criticizing; they’re not ruled by money, they just want to play together and win. If Dwyane Wade was all about himself, he wouldn’t have convinced two other players to take less money and then take even less than those two in order to make sure Udonis Haslem could stay around. Wade has given up money and glory to serve the Heat. And Michael Jordan isn’t exactly the model of selflessness, now is he?
From a team perspective, this is a salary-cap sport where every team has a limit on the amount of money it can spend; Pat Riley just figured out a better way to spend it. This isn’t a Yankees situation where the most money won out; it was selling and manuevering.
As for Beasley, if there’s a Heat fan rooting against him I haven’t met that person. He’s the unfortunate casualty of a must-move situation.
I understand different people have different perspectives about the situation. But I just feel like a lot of what’s being said is just pablum that people are used to saying, without really analyzing the situation. Thanks again for reading, and I hope you check in sooner rather than later.
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Would love to get some more depth behind Wade. Wonder if Riley is seriously considering Stackhouse?
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@shawn
yeah, i saw the arroyo post. the guy who works the phones in the morgue was dumbfounded with your post and UNCB278′s.
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shawn Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Did u watch the video on youtube? And I find it funny how laker fans dwell on the past the thing is when the heat beat them they will come to this blog and make excuse after excuse on why they lost well I am looking forward for that
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:03 pm
will check the video later. yeah, it’s really funny. they already said their excuse, that the 3 conspired. blah blah blah…you might wanna check out the arroyo post again. the guy at the morgue is claiming it will be boston vs orlando in the ecf. LMAO!
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Big3 of Southbeach Fan Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:14 pm
will check it later. check the arroyo post again. someone is claiming it will be boston vs orlando in the ecf. LMAO!
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will check it later. check the arroyo post, someone is claiming it will be boston vs orlando in the ecf. LMAO!
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gonna check it later. somebody is claiming it will be boston vs orlando. lmao!
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@monmon; re: why commenters here mention that you answer the phone at the morgue
He’s referring to the lengthy response you wrote to me a while back, talking about how you understand the meaning of life or some such nonsense, because you work at the county morgue in Chicago (making it the Cook County morgue). You also claimed to be “an investigator,” which I quickly dismissed based your grammar tendencies and overall lack of ability to communicate via the written word. My conclusion, then, was that you answer the phones at the Cook County morgue, since it seems likely that no one as unintelligent as you would be given much more responsibility than that.
Also, I’m not sure how an investigator (whatever that title means) who works for the morgue in the 2nd most populous county in the country, with a notoriously high murder rate, would have the time to stroll into work, sit down, and just start blasting away on the keyboard with copious “LMAO’s” and other dullard-speak. You yourself proclaimed that you’d been busy “investigating” many murders (don’t the, um, police do that…?), yet had somehow been waxing poetic about the great Kobe Bryant (or Chicago Bulls, depending on whether you were currently using the moniker “Marcus” or “monmon”) for hours on end.
So anyway, that’s probably why he’s referring to you working the phones at the morgue. Idiot.
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shawn Reply:
July 24th, 2010 at 1:26 am
wow you ripped him a new one
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my apologies for the repeated posts above. i emailed Matthew that my posts were not appearing that’s why i had to repeat the posts.
Thanks again to Matthew and his staff for immediately attending to my concerns. More power to Matthew, Surya, Hothothoops, the fans, and of course….the MIAMI TEAM!
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Who give a fuck about the Cavs they just upset cause they don’t have a great team no more. Miami is going to be the best team ever and all you people know it and for the Lakers we gunning for ya’ll so get ready the gun shine state is back. We running basket ball and football, everybody want to be in florida so f all yall. Labron all you have to do is pay the goons and we got you, we gonna look out for you regardless and none of thos Cavs fan better not f with you.
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shawn Reply:
July 24th, 2010 at 3:27 am
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the lakers out rebounded the celtics in game 7.. with gasol and bynum.which is why they won. for the heat to win it all they are going to have to defeat the lakers. anthoney is becoming a pretty good player but at 6″9″ he’s undersized. would not hold up against bynum and gasol. is there anybody the heat can sign such as oneal or maybe siler that might match up better against bynum and gasol
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Good article. I would love for the HEAT to pursue either Stackhouse or bring back Jason Williams to fill out the roster. Both have tremendous experience and will bring another veteran to go along with all the youth they currently have. Stackhouse is instant offense off the bench which the HEAT in my opinion will need more of as we’ll come to find out.
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WE NEED DELONTE WEST. He will be waived by minnesota and would be a great pick up. Don’t think he’ll ask for much either. Miami desperately needs a guard with skills and SOLID DEFENSE and West has just that. He’s fierce!
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