Oldies but Goodies...Somewhat

The free agency period of the NBA offseason has slowed and the big name players are for the most part signed. We have now reached the bottom of the barrel. Despite the dearth of talent, as we know, sometimes you can find some value amongst other people's trash. I can't help but think back to my trips with my friends in college to the used CD store; we always found something great for cheap (i.e. this awesome find with Ghostface and Andre Rison rapping http://www.amazon.com/Jams-Richie-Rich-Esera-Tuaolo/dp/B000006JQA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1280497362&sr=8-4 ) This is what NBA franchises are trying to find, and right now we have some of the league's former superstars still looking for work. Although most teams are struggling with deciding if these players are worth the money, I would still give some of my hard-earned money (not much) for some of these classics. This will be a 3-part series on the 3 superstars left alone like me at a high school dance: Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, and Allen Iverson.

Shaquille O'Neal
Potential Destinations - Boston, Atlanta, Cleveland

Why he hasn't been offered a deal -

As is the case with many former superstars, Shaq has had some delusions on what he is worth to a franchise. After making $20 million or more for the last 9 seasons, Shaq has had trouble accepting his market value offers for 1/10th that amount. While saying he would accept the full mid-level exception, around $5 million, for next season, no one has been willing to pay him that.

Aside from the salary issues, Shaq's value on the court has greatly diminished. In a league where the All-Star centers last year were Dwight Howard, Chris Kaman, Al Horford, David Lee, Amare Stoudemire, and Pau Gasol, the slow, hefty Shaqtus is no longer as valuable during the regular season. Not only does O'Neal struggle with running the floor and guarding these mobile centers, he also cannot guard one of the defining half-court offensive ploys in NBA basketball: the pick and roll. In the NBA, if a player cannot guard your position, it is hard for them to find minutes. In the playoffs last year, we saw Shaq start the game, but in crunch time Anderson Varejao would be on the court at center as the Cavs needed his defensive presence and much better foul shooting.

Even on the offensive side where Shaq plays his hardest, Shaq's value has decreased. Much is made about Shaq accepting a complimentary role last year. While he did accept less minutes, O'Neal still demands the ball. To show this, I will use a statistic from http://www.basketball-reference.com/ called Usage % (USG%.) USG% is defined as an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor. Last season, Shaq was second on the Cavs with a USG% of 25.1 (for a full list http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CLE/2010.html .) This isn't that surprising when looking at the rest of the roster, however Shaq accomplished this feat while only logging 23.4 minutes per game which was 7th most on the team. To have a USG% that much greater than your minutes is not a characteristic of someone who is accepting a lesser role and being a team player. Other notable players in the top 50 in USG% with less minutes are Jerryd Bayless, Leandro Barbosa, Marreese Speights, Rodrique Beaubois, and Jannero Pargo who are all characterized as gunners/black holes. I think that this situation was Mike Brown's attempt to keep Shaq interested so that he would play defense (a problem Phil Jackson referred to in his book The Last Season.) In response to those media members who praise Shaq for becoming a role player, I would argue that while he has accepted less minutes, Shaq's need for the ball while in the game greatly disrupted the Cavaliers offense last year. I can remember watching Shaq getting fed the ball every time down the court in the first quarter against the Celtics in the playoffs. Using Shaq this way doesn't work anymore, he doesn't have the agility, quickness, or lift at this point in his career to dominate. Sometimes I even wondered whether he could dunk last year.

Why he still deserves that cash -

Say what you will about Shaq, but he can still help a contender win games in the right situation. He isn't going to be effective playing many minutes, and you may have to run him on auto-pilot until the playoffs, but when you do make the playoffs he has a role. Since Shaq is right now only being pursued by Eastern Conference contenders, lets look at the top five teams in the conference. Of the top five, Orlando, Milwaukee, Boston, and Chicago have true centers that Shaq could guard efffectively in the playoffs (Howard, Bogut, Perkins, and Noah respectively.) Shaq's strength and girth greatly tire out these young bigs, and although these teams may try and expose him on the pick an roll, the team that get Shaq will not have to worry about double teaming any center. This would prove helpful against teams like the Magic who are built around playing inside out and getting threes out of double teams.

Offensively, Shaq is no longer the freak athlete that we grew to love as Neon Boudeau in the film Blue Chips. In fact, nowadays he is about as athletic as Ricky Rowe. However, as long as a team can keep O'Neal's minutes limited, he can be an effective starting center. Although he is much slower, Shaq still passes great out of the double team, and the fact that he still demands a double team sometimes creates mismatches and advantages for whatever team he lands on. The key is for a coach to have enough confidence to tell Shaq that he won't be force fed the ball while he is in the game. This is why I think that the Celtics would be a better fit for him than the Hawks. Doc Rivers would have no problem telling Shaq what his role would be, and he has the rep for Shaq to listen. After all Rivers did exactly that with all of his aging stars last year as he handed the team over to Rajon Rondo.

I think this will end with Shaquille O'Neal accepting a $3-$4 million dollar contract for an Eastern Conference contender. The only question would be, what would Shaq's nickname be in Boston? How about the Green Monster?

CP3 Stinging the Hornets

Chris Paul is ruining the NBA.

Thats right, I said it. Many of you probably think that since I was pro-Lebron, I am pro-CP3 as well. While the thought of Chris Paul teaming up with Amare, Kobe, or Dwight Howard excites me as a basketball fan, CP3 is not playing within the rules. The difference between the Superfriends (Wade, Lebron, and Bosh) teaming up and the situation with Paul is that the Superfriends were all free agents. The trio all played through their contracts and then decided what their collective next move would be. While I may not agree with how they executed it -- "The Decision" and the Welcome Party -- all three earned that right and did nothing but look out for their own best interests.

Paul, on the other hand, recently announced that he had developed an exit strategy from the New Orleans Hornets that begins on Monday with a meeting with new head coach Monty Williams and new GM Dell Demps. At this meeting Paul will be presenting the duo with a list of teams that he would like to be traded to including the Knicks, Lakers, Magic, Trail Blazers, and Mavericks. These options would all create tantalizing teams to challenge the Heat and other top teams for supremacy next year. However, this is the type of action that will kill the NBA. Exit strategies should be left to President Obama and General Petraeus.

Many people I talked to after "The Decision" said that this is why they hate the NBA and they can no longer watch it. I didn't agree with that because of the fact I previously stated about all three aligning as free agents. It was their right to decide where they play, and the fact that they took less money to try and win championships doesn't deserve the lambasting it has received by the public; it should be applauded quite frankly. But Paul's situation is exactly what could sour NBA fans (especially those in New Orleans) on this league. Paul stil has not one, but two more years under his current contract with the Hornets! Also, he has been an ambassador for the city of New Orleans and connected with the city over his career. If the Hornets end up trading one of the best point guards in the league, that will usher in a new era where the players have ALL the control.

Why is that a bad thing? Because smaller market and losing teams already have enough of a hard time alluring free agents and keeping stars that they luck into at draft time. If players are able to start demanding trades whenever they want, the New Orleanses of the league will be in a constant state of rebuilding. That doesn't sound like a business plan that will be profitable, and David Stern should be worried. That also doesn't sound like anything that the average fan in a small market would pay to see. What would end up happening is that the NBA would turn into the MLB. Winning teams in large markets or nice climates would be stocked year after year with elite talent, while losing teams in smaller markets would hope to draft a star and then convince that star to stay and develop a winning team (i.e. Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City.)

I have developed a statement that Demps or Williams need to say at the meeting on Monday. "Chris, we know you want to win, so do we. The organization is dedicated to surrounding you with the talent and putting a contending team out on the court every night. We understand your desire to be traded, however, you are under contract for two more years and we expect you to honor that contract. We definitely cannot get back a similar amount of talent for you this year, and we don't plan on trading you and setting our franchise further backward. We will do our best to prove to you we want to win, and all we ask from you is to continue to play like the MVP and franchise player we think you are."

Then, Demps has to get to work. The Hornets have the pieces right now to be a playoff contender, but not a championship contender. They may be able to keep CP3 if they can accomplish the latter. Unfortunately they have one large, immovable piece in Emeka Okafor who has 4 years left on his contract at over $11 million dollars a year. Other than that, a core of Paul, David West, Marcus Thornton, Darren Collison and Okafor is not terrible. Add in rookies Craig Brackins and Quincy Pondexter along with the raw Julian Wright and you have the makings of a decent team. The Hornets also have two big expiring contracts that they can either trade for a piece or let expire this season in Peja Stojakovic ($15.36 million) and Darius Songaila ($4.8 million). If they let these contracts expire, then they can make some free agent signings next year to try and appease Paul and get the Hornets back into championship contention. If they can do that, then they can also trade Collison who is a hot commodity that they cannot trade now as they need Paul insurance.

It just doesn't make sense for the Hornets to trade Paul this year for players like Jameer Nelson, Vince Carter, or Raymond Felton when they still have him for 2 years. Maybe next year, when they know they will lose him at the end of the year, the Hornets could execute a trade to get something back. But if it was me, I would tell Chris to get back to the gym, and after the 2011-2012 season do a sign-and-trade with whatever team wants him.

I guess I can't be surprised by this type of bad character from Chris Paul, this is the guy who once took this cheap shot on Julius Hodge during the ACC tournament.

"Manna from Heaven"

That is what Minnesota Timberwolves' president of basketball operations called Serbian center Darko Milicic on Wednesday night during an in-game interview with Chris Webber and Matt Winer at the 2:35 mark of the video below. Kahn then goes on to say that he has "never seen a big man pass like him (Milicic). He really does pass like Vlade (Divac)." Much to Webber's dismay, Kahn goes on to say that Darko's maturation and career is reminiscent of Webber's own career (3:52).

Webber's response to this statement was classic, "We are not talking about me and Darko Milicic in the same sentence." Not only was Divac one of the better passing centers of all time, but Darko turns the ball over as much as he logs assists. And Webber averaged 17 pts, 9 rebs and 4 assists a game from day one in the league compared to Milicic's 1.4 pts and 1.3 rebs his rookie year. The comparison was ridiculous, and I'm glad C-Webb kept it real.

This brings up a good question, is there anyway David Kahn should be in a decision-making position for an NBA team? This exchange typefies the incompetence Kahn has displayed over his two years in Minneapolis.

Darko Milicic's 4-year $20 million deal is one of the latest of the series of illogical moves Kahn has saddled Minnesota and their fans with. The only people that should see Darko as "Manna from heaven" are the guys who write the FreeDarko blog (http://www.freedarko.com). Other than that, Darko has been more like mold from the underworld for the teams that have employed him over his 7-year career.

What has Darko done for the Wolves to reward Darko so handsomely? The answer is nothing. Last year, in 24 games (starting 18!), Darko averaged 8.3 pts 5.6 rebs and 1.4 blks per game. Not terrible numbers for a backup, but as a starter these are below average. To think that Kurt Rambis started him over Kevin Love is ludicrous. Love average 14 pts and 11 rebounds a game but Milicic got the nod because of his passing and defensive chemistry with Al Jefferson.

Kahn's other moves this year, so far, have been:

1. Signing 30 year-old backup point guard Luke Ridnour to a 4-year $16 million deal to be a 3rd point guard until they find someone to take Ramon Sessions off their books.
2. Trading a top-five in the league low post scorer, Al Jefferson, who was the Wolves best player since stepping in the arena in 2007. You would think the Wolves could net an impact player for big Al, but instead they got two protected future first round picks from the Jazz, Kousta Koufos (a stiff), and cap space. David Kahn says this is the best they could have gotten for Al. However, the two picks will be late first round picks since this trade will make Utah a perennial high-seeded playoff team.
3. Kahn also traded for Michael Beasley to further confuse Kevin Love about what his role will be on this team in the future. Who will get the minutes at PF? It doesn't seem like Kahn cares about rotations, he just stockpiles young point guards, small forwards, and power forwards instead of allowing them to develop.

The past two years have been an embarrassment to the NBA. How someone as clueless as David Kahn got hired as president of basketball operations is appalling. He doesn't even know who his best player is and isn't ashamed to admit it! The team traded away its only identifiable player, and wants to run an uptempo offense with a coach who wants to slow it down and run the triangle. Glen Taylor, the Wolves' owner, needs to come to his senses and fire Kahn. The city of Minneapolis deserves better, and the league deserves better. This summer the Wolves had cap space to make efforts to sign impact players and they didn't, they also had the ability to pick an impact player with the 4th-pick. Thus far, it is looking like Demarcus Cousins will be vying for rookie of the year, while the Wolves rookie Wesley Johnson will be fighting for minutes with the likes of Corey Brewer and Martell Webster.

Jobs like this are so sought after, I just can't believe Kahn still has his.

The Sun Setting in Phoenix

Today there were rumors about two trades involving the Phoenix Suns. The first was a headline trade of the Brazilian Bullet and crowd favorite Leandro Barbosa and bench warmer Dwayne Jones for The Turkish Pizza Machine Hedo Turkoglu (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KElULD40hBw&feature=related). The second involved the Suns using the trade exception they earned from the Amare Stoudemire sign-and-trade to New York to absorb Josh Childress in a trade with Atlanta. The Suns gave the Greek defector a contract extension amounting to $34 million dollars over 5 years.

Essentially the Suns traded Amare Stoudemire, Barbosa, and Jones for Hedo Turkoglu and Josh Childress. To the naked eye, it may seem like a small downgrade precipitated by the fact that Amare was leaving anyway and causing the Suns to grab what they could. However, I think this was a trade that greatly hurt the Suns and their style of play.

Lets start with Barbosa. After the Suns performance in the playoffs, you could see that Barbosa had become expendable. The emergence of young Goran Dragic as the backup point guard Steve Nash has dreamt of caused Barbosa to log minutes at the 2 if he wanted to see the court. Offensively it was seamless as Barbosa excels in the 7 seconds or less system that was left by Mike D'antoni. Defensively, however, the playoffs showed how Leandro could not guard the two position with any success. Kobe, and really any other shooting guard, abused Leandro in the post to the point where Leandro became a liability. In the end, Dragic is just too good at the point guard position and Barbosa became an expensive 3rd point guard. I don't mind that the Suns traded him, in fact if they would have trade him for Josh Childress, I would have been impressed. It must have been difficult to get rid of a crowd favorite of Barbosa's caliber, and the Suns pulled the trigger.

Childress solves the issue that I laid out above. As a 6'7" swing man, Childress will be a great spot starter and backup 2-guard. He has the length to come in and defend his position as well as the offensive skills to excel in the Suns system. The former Stanford star, has played in Greece the past two years and averaged 15 points per game in 27 minutes a game for Olympiacos. He will be able to back up Grant Hill and Josh Richardson superbly in the future.

The bone I have to pick with the Suns is due to their decision to trade for Turkoglu. Hedo has 4 years and $44 million dollars left on his contract and is due $9.8 million dollars this season. In addition to adding Hedo, the Suns signed willowy Hakim Warrick to a 4-year $18 million contract and Channing Frye to a 5-year $30 million contract. Add the first year of their contracts together and you get $20.3 million (9.8+4.5+6.0) which happens to equal about the maximum amount they could have offered Amare.

To me, signing Amare back to a max deal is a better use of the owner Rober Sarver's money than the potpourri of Warrick, Frye, and Turkoglu. Turkoglu is an aging small forward who had a disastrous season last year for the Raptors. He looked like a shell of his former Magic self, and the Raptors must have have been ecstatic to get rid of him. Warrick is a decent role player, but he simply is not worth giving up the chance to sign Amare back. Lastly, the Suns love Frye, and I do too, but he showed that he may not be able to handle the spotlight in the playoffs where in comparison, Amare stepped up to the challenge by averaging 23 pts and 7.3 rebounds a game in the playoffs (including the explosive 42 point game against the Lakers.) Amare has benefited from playing with Steve Nash, however his athleticism, face-up jump shot, and agility are a perfect fit for the Suns. I think Amare is responsible for a lot of Steve Nash's acclaim. He the perfect big for this system and runs the pick and roll with Nash perfectly. It will be sad to see the Suns without him this year.

Lets look at the numbers. According to Basketball Reference.com's PER and Win Shares (WS)(http://www.basketball-reference.com/), Amare would have been a better use of funds. PER is a stat created by John Hollinger that "sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments, and returns a per-minute rating of a players performance." The league average for PER is 15 and the higher the score, the better. Win Shares on the other hand is a statistic that estimates the number of wins a player is responsible for. 1 WS equals 1 win.

Stoudemire surpasses the competition in every way. Last season he had a PER of 22.6 (9th in the league) and a WS of 10.7 (11th in the league.) The main player added, Turkoglu, is no where close. Last season Turkoglu's PER was 13.3 and his WS was 3.4 (both outside of the top 20 and below average.) Even if we go back to Turkoglu's to the 08-09 season when the Magic made the Finals, he only registered a PER of 14.8 and a WS of 3.4.

This tells me that the Suns would have been better off in a basketball sense and an entertainment sense resigning Amare to a max-contract and trading Barbosa for an athletic back-up wing player who can guard the 2-guard and small forward positions in case Grant Hill regresses next year. They would definitely have lost Frye in this scenario, but Robin Lopez should mature this year and paired great with Amare as a defensive and rebounding presence. Then focus on finding a bargain back-up center or even deal Barbosa for a big (for example Jeff Foster) and let Jared Dudley and Earl Clark earn more minutes.

Will the Heat have a Supporting Cast?

Let me begin by saying that I am pro-Lebron. He is my favorite player in the League today, and I am excited that he will be "taking his talents to South Beach." We are talking about history in the NBA, two of the top 5 players in the league joining forces in an effort to win multiple NBA titles. While I think Lebron did not handle the announcement in the best way, any NBA fan has to be excited to see this lineup take the court next season and square off against some of the organically grown teams in the league. It is the ultimate experiment, and I think the Heat will win the title no matter who rounds out the roster.

But right now, the media powers that be would like you to believe that with only the "Holy Trinity,' Mario Chalmers, Da'Sean Butler, Dexter Pittman, and Jarvis Varnado, and 6 more minimum players, the Heat will not be able to win the East. I disagree, I think that there are plenty of serviceable free agents who can sign for the minimum and help them win the NBA title next year.

So I went to the free agent tracker at http://www.nba.com/freeagents/2010/ and looked at the free agents who may be left to sign for the minimum (here is a link for the minimum salary scale http://www.insidehoops.com/minimum-nba-salary.shtml) The qualities that the Heat should be looking for in players should be: 1) willing to sign for the minimum because of age or lack of other offers; 2) ability to shoot, especially from three; 3) a steadying veteran presence; 4) young players who may benefit from playing with three NBA all-stars and will rejuvenate their career.

With that being said, here are some of the players that may be available at each position (Ranked by fit.)

Point Guard:

1. Jason Williams - This is actually somewhat likely. Jason played for the Heat for three seasons from 05-08 and played at the University of Florida in college. After coming back from a brief season hiatus, Jason showed last year that he is still a great backup point guard. More importantly he shot 38% from deep last year. While White Chocolate has lost some of his flavor over the years, he still brings substance to the table. Jason played for the minimum last year, and would probably play again if he could play for a championship right away. He would even challenge Chalmers for starting minutes depending on how the youngster develops.
   


2. Eddie House - I know listing Eddie as a PG may be a little bit of a stretch, but the important thing to realize about the point guard on this team is that it won't be as important for them to bring up the ball, but they will have to be ready to catch and shoot, one thing that Eddie could do from day one. With Lebron and Wade bringing up the ball a high percentage of the time, Eddie could reprise the role he played for the 07-08 Celtics. In the 08-09 season in Boston, Eddie shot 44% from three, and he would be a great fit who would definitely sign for the minimum to go back to Miami who gave him his start in 2000.



3. Chucky Atkins - Predicting Chucky to come to Miami is like picking vanilla ice cream. Its not fun or cool, but Chucky has been a solid NBA point guard who can shoot the three for years. Chucky would be a decent twelth man, and a solid veteran presence.



4. Anthony Johnson - See Chucky Atkins. Except Anthony has almost no range, so he would not be an ideal fit on this team.
   


5. Allen Iverson - This is very unlikely for a few reasons: a) I don't think any contending team would want Allen to come in and possibly ruin the locker room chemistry b) Allen may not want the minimum as he has had reported financial issues. However, Allen still wants to play for a contender and if you sign him to the minimum it may be a decent gamble. This team definitely has the leadership to keep AI in line, and if he doesn't toe the line, it would be easy for Pat Riley to cut the cord. As far as fit, it isn't that great either. AI has never had consistent deep range, however he is a solid mid range shooter. After watching him play in Philly last year, I think he is ready to cede his role in order to fit in with a contender who can win a championship. This is very unlikely, but it would be great TV to see 3 potential hall of famers lace up the sneakers for a year or two.


6. Starbury - This is a little bit of a guilty pleasure for me. Much like AI it is very unlikely, but it would be easy to cut him loose if necessary. Marbury never got a chance to play extended minutes after the Isaiah scandal, and that's a shame. Remember, Starbury has avearged 18 pts and 7 assists over his career, and was an all-star caliber point guard in his day. This, like Iverson, could be a decent gamble if Erik Spoelstra has large supply of Tums.

Shooting Guards

1. Jerry Stackhouse - The 15-year vet tried to come back for a contender last year, and no one wanted him until midseason. Stackhouse brought great leadership and presence to the Bucks while shooting 34.6% from three and averaging 8.5 points per game. Also, if he joined the Heat, they may break the record for free throw attempts in a season, as Stack is known for getting to the line. Definitely a serviceable backup.




2. Michael Finley - While he might be long in the tooth at 37 years of age, Finley would be a proficient three-point shooter to bring off the bench. We saw last year that Finley doesn't mind playing limited minutes for a championship-caliber team. Finley can't do much else, but luckily the Heat won't need him to.
   
3. Roger Mason - This one may be a reach, but Mason is a good combo guard to bring off the bench. He probably could earn more than the minimum from another team, however last year the Spurs relegated him to the bench and decreased his minutes per game by 10. Mason is a three-point specialist, and may be willing to play one year for the minimum, so that he can get another payday later.
   
4. Sasha Pavlovic - I don't think there is any doubt that Sasha would play for the minimum (unless David Kahn gives him a 3 year deal for $15 million). Sasha is a former member of the Fighting Lebrons and would probably be able to be persuaded by the King to come get a ring. Sasha is incredibly inconsistent, but was a starter on the Cavs at various points in his career. He plays his best basketball with Lebron and has shot 35% from three over a 7 year career.

Small Forward

1. Steve Novak - The 4-year vet from the Clips is a dead eye shooter no doubt about it. He does little else, but this is exactly what the Heat need. Novak shot 48 % from three in the 07-08 season and has shot 40% over his career. He should be able to be snagged for the minimum, and he would love being the recipient of the drive and kicks from Lebron and Wade.




2. Jarvis Hayes - The former 10th overall pick has been mired in mediocrity since entering the league. However he has great form on his jumper and has shot 35.6% from three over is career. He really hasn't gotten minutes to show his skills, but coming off the bench on this team may rejuvenate his once promising career.


3. Adam Morrsion - Give the Freak a chance!!! We know Adam looks good (as good as possible) sitting next to Sasha Pavlovic on the bench in a suit. Much like Hayes, Morrison once was so promising that the Bobcats used the 3rd overall pick on the Gonzaga great. I just don't believe that his has digressed so much that he no longer can get any burn in an NBA game. Another last resort option, but may be a gamble that pays off. As a rookie, he averaged 12 pts a game and shot 33.7 % from three. Nothing great, but certainly someone who you could gamble on and hope the change of scenery and the presence of the Holy Trinity would help.


4. Wally Szczerbiak - Lebron could talk his former Cavs teammate out of retirement to get a ring. All Wally would have to do is sit in the corner and spot up for threes. It is a long shot, but I really like the fit.
   

Power Forward:

1. Juwan Howard - If Juwan wants to settle for the minimum, this journeyman could finally get his ring. He kept the Blazers afloat last year, while ACL's were popping left and right. Howard will definitely be a hot commodity amongst contenders this year, and the Heat may be priced out of the market. If not, Juwan would be a good backup power forward who can also play some center if necessary.
   
2. Kurt Thomas - Similar to Juwan, Kurt would have to take less money to win a ring. I could see him doing this, however other contenders are sure to make good offers to Kurt. He is a solid rebounder and loves the face-up jumper. More importantly, he would complement Bosh's style of play perfectly, and defensively would be a great presence inside to put a body on some of the bigs in the league and let Chris run free. Kurt would also be a great mentor to the young Heat bigs (Pittman and Varnado) by teaching them how to be a pro.


3. Sean May - Similar to Morrison, a former 13th overall pick who has become basically irrelevant due to injuries. If nothing else, he is six fouls and some great hustle on the glass. May is a banger and big body but also has the ability to hit the elbow jumper. Think Big Baby Davis without drool or the minutes. In the 06-07 season he averaged 11pts and 7 rebs. Also prior to signing with the Kings last season, they believed he might be a threat to take the starting job at power forward.
   
4. Brian Scalabrine - Witht eh arrival of Notre Dame alum, Luke Harangody, in Boston, Scal's role as the awkward energetic white guy in Boston may be over. If another team doesn't value him enough to make a better offer, Scalabrine and his jump shot would make sense in Miami. I am just worried about his skin holding up in Miami, get the man some SPF sixty or he is going to get some color on south beach!!! But seriously, Scal has shot 35% from 3 over his career.
   
5. Tim Thomas - I don't need to say much here, he doesn't play defense and doesn't rebound. But he would stretch the floor and benefit from the Heat's situation

Center

1. Zydrunas Ilgauskas - Big Z could definitely earn money elsewhere, but last year we saw a big show of loyalty from the big fella after resigning for the minimum to stay in Cleveland. Z really wants to win a championship, and I think its safe to say that isn't going to happen in Cleveland. We know Lebron loves him, and basketball wise this is a great fit. Z would eat up space on defense, block shots, and be a defined center to play with Bosh and help him. Also with his jump shot, Z would fit in on offense if he could get down the floor in time.
   
2. Theo Ratliff - Purely for defensive presence, and bodying up the other centers in the east so Bosh doesn't have to. He has no offensive game, but I don't think there will be too many shots to go around, so this could be a good fit.


3. Jason and Jarron Collins - If this happened, it would be the most exciting signing in Miami this year! Reuniting the Collins brothers would actually be a decent idea, as that would be 12 fouls to give, and some big bodies to shield Bosh.


4. Randolph Morris - Randolph has had a strange career. Morris averaged 16 pts and 7 rebs his senior year at Kentucky, and was signed by the Knicks as a free agent (he entered the draft without an agent after his freshman year, and was not able to re-enter the draft). Back in high school, Morris was considered equal if not better than Dwight Howard and Josh Smith (AAU teammates) and may be a decent long-term gamble to develop. I think if you put him in this team, it may give him the motivation to get serious. At 6'10" and 270 lbs, Morris would provide some size and he has good athleticism and skill.