Capture of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh was a masterstroke, and now the South Beach franchise aim to cash in
The Miami Heat are having a summer to remember down on South Beach. It all started with their stupendous coup de grace in the first week of free agency, when the Heat managed to convince LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh ? three standout players among a stellar cast who were available this summer ? to agree to smaller contracts than they could have commanded.
In a league where money often has as much pulling power as location, James, Bosh and Wade ? who excelled together on the victorious USA team at the 2008 Olympics ? agreed to take $2-3m less per year than the maximum salary to play together in Miami.
Over the past two years, Miami, like many teams in the NBA, have planned meticulously for this summer. The possibility of landing one or more of the megastars on offer encouraged several teams to build a roster designed to disintegrate at the close of the 2009-10 season.
Entering the free-agency period, the Heat had only its two second-year players, Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley, still under contract for 2010-11. On 1 July, the contracts of the rest of the Heat roster expired. The departure of the erratic Beasley, offloaded to Minnesota for future draft picks, shrank the payroll to just $2m. James, Wade and Bosh took up a combined $42m of the NBA's $56.1m salary cap, leaving the Heat, and revered general manager Pat Riley, to assemble a supporting cast on a shoestring budget.
Once the big-name trio had committed, and with Chalmers already under contract, Riley had around $15m remaining in available salary ? not much to recruit eight or nine players capable of helping carry the championship to South Beach. Initially there seemed little action to follow up the 'Miami Thrice's' arrival, but towards the end of last week, the Heat began reeling in new signings with remarkable speed.
The first to announce his commitment, unsurprisingly, was seven-year Heat player Udonis Haslem. A South Florida native Haslem, who like Wade has spent his entire NBA career on South Beach, received more lucrative offers from elsewhere but was always likely to return to the Heat. He has held an important position in the franchise over the last four years as the lynchpin and captain of a young, developing team, and won the hearts of Miami's fans in the process.
With Haslem's signature secured, the Heat stepped up their efforts to bolster the roster. On Friday and Saturday, they announced the arrivals of sharpshooter Mike Miller and centre Zydrunas Ilgauskas, signings which ate up the rest of the salary cap.
Under NBA rules, Miami could now only offer the veterans' minimum contract (which the league sets, and which increases according to how many years a player has been in the NBA) and could no longer afford to keep several promising young players, notably Daequan Cook and Dorell Wright.
Centres Joel Anthony and Dexter Pittman were signed to minimum deals on Sunday and the spree continued this week with forwards Jamaal Magloire, James Jones and Juwan Howard, and point guard Carlos Arroyo.
This week's arrivals go a long way to completing Miami's likely rotation for the forthcoming season. Guard/forward Miller, who will play a key role as the most respected three-point shooter on the roster, roomed with Haslem in college and was recruited by Wade. More than a few NBA coaches will likely turn to zone defences to keep James and Wade from penetrating inside and getting to the basket, which means Miller's ability to hit perimeter shots could be crucial to Miami's fortunes. James Jones, another wing player with a reputation as a three-point shooter, will perform a similar role so long as he can stay healthy, a major concern in the last two years.
Ilgauskas, the 7ft 3in Lithuanian who has spent all 11 of his NBA seasons with Cleveland, figures to become the starting centre for the Heat, a role he was occupying quite capably for the Cavaliers until Shaquille O'Neal's arrival last season. He will be backed up at the centre spot by Anthony, with second-round draft pick Pittman providing extra depth. Arroyo will compete with Chalmers for the starter's position at point guard, just as he did last season.
Magloire, who featured in just 21 games for Miami during an injury-hampered 2009-10 campaign, is on the roster as a backup option in case more than one of the others goes down with an injury. Howard proved last season with the injury-depleted Trail Blazers that he can still produce a solid contribution when called on, but at almost 37 years of age and entering his 17th NBA campaign, is seen as more of a solid veteran presence to bring experience to the dressing room.
On Draft night, the Heat made what could the most under-rated selection by taking multi-talented but fragile forward Da'Sean Butler in the second round. If Butler can prove his fitness, he has enough potential to be given a roster spot and the time to improve. That would take the Heat to 14 committed players and unless Riley has trades in mind, that will probably be the end of things.
In principle, the Heat shouldn't struggle to gel this roster. It has all the necessary components in place. The team is mostly assembled way ahead of training camp so time is on their side. The three superstars, James, Wade and Bosh, have proved before that they can perform spectacularly in tandem. In Haslem and Howard, Miami have proven leaders; Anthony, Ilgauskas and Miller fill the need any team has for a shot-blocker, rebounder and shooter, respectively. Jones, when healthy, is an extra threat on the wings, and Chalmers is an improving young point guard who will contribute energy and enthusiasm.
All Miami could want for now would be some extra depth at the guard spots, and a solid perimeter defender to take some of the workload off Wade and James. On paper, this team is certainly strong enough to challenge for a title, if only because there doesn't seem to be a defensive scheme which can handle the "Miami Thrice". As people pointed out when Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce united in Boston three years ago, you can't double-team three players.
Emmanuelle Vaugier Sarah Silverman Larissa Meek Gina Carano Sanaa Lathan
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