Wade, Bosh, Riley issues for Heat
MIAMI No, the trading deadline did not change the NBA landscape. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers still are Finals favorites. The Boston Celtics continue to sit on a tantalizing trove of draft treasure. And the New York Knicks remain, same as ever, more talk than action.
But therewere a few aspects from Thursday’s deadline that did resonate with the Miami Heat.
The Dwyane Wade Conundrum: It got real on Thursday in the wake of the Chicago Bulls dealing away Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott to clear theway for playing time for Denzel Valentine, Bobby Portis and Paul Zipser.
Of the many aspects of Dwyane Wade’s move to the Bulls last summer, none of them included more time lining up alongside Valentine, Port is and Zipser. And with so much smoke surrounding Jimmy Butler, an offseason fire sale hardly would be surprising.
Against that backdrop stands Wade’s $23.8 million player option for next season. And beyond that backdrop stands rampant speculation of a player who seemingly was all about the money last summer.
Even if that music you hear in the background sounds like the prelude to a Dwyane Wade South Florida reunion, consider that Pat Riley just this pas tweek said he remains in evaluation mode when it comes to Dion Waiters and James Johnson and this summer’s $40 million (ish) Heat cap stash.
So how low does Wade go? Does he go low enough to allow for the math that Riley was computing last summer? Low enough that the dollars would be similar to what he could get to play alongside LeBron James with the Cavaliers? Close friend Chris Paul with the Los Angeles Clippers? Part of a Broadway bowout with Carmelo Anthony in New York?
Riley refused to allow sentiment to get in theway last summer. Will the same resolve remain in place during an even more important Heat offseason to avoid a Kobe 2.0 situation? Or will those $23.8 million walk Wade back to Chicago for one more season?
The Bosh Timing: In the midst of the trade-deadline dealing came word from Turner Sports of Chris Bosh’s five-week limited engagement as a TNT studio host.
This also makes it the perfect time for Riley (or someone from the Heat) to pick up the phone this weekend and make peace with a player who has meant so much to the franchise. The last thing the Heat need, as they head back into recruitment mode this summer, is the type of nastiness that permeated Bosh’s preseason videos.
Beyond that, there also is the element of opening an additional roster spot once Bosh is formally waived and the cap-removal process can begin.
While the buyout/waiver period already has delivered the likes of Deron Williams and Andrew Bogut to the market, for the Heat an available 15th roster spot could allowthe team to either lock in a youthful prospect going forward ( Marcus Georges-Hunt? Keith Benson?) or a playoff-eligible veteran for this playoff push ( Marcus Thornton? Jared Sullinger?).
All theway up?: Somewhat lost amid Riley’s informal media session after the deadline was this when it came to the team battling for a final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference:
“There’ll probably be a point somewhere, if you get six, seven games behind that other things can happen.”
The unspoken context was that if this playoff chase (that still seemingly will end south of .500) comes up short that the lottery implications will be reconsidered.
Only they can’t. That ship sailed with the13-game winning streak.
The fact that having it both ways still is even viewed as a possibility with so few games remaining shows just how unexpectedly and suddenly the winning arrived.
It has become clear that the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Orlando Magic and Knicks in the East, and Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns in the West have cashed out on the season, based on their moves (or lack thereof ) around the trading deadline.
Already, anything better than a No. 7 lottery seed appears unlikely, leaving the Heat at a loss for winning in that context.
And this: “I’m excited about a playoff run, just as I would be excited about getting the first seed.”
Thatwas Riley when ostensibly discussing the push for the No, 8 playoff seed that had the Heat retaining the likes of Waiters, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington at the deadline.
This fromthe championship-or-misery icon.
Guesswe all mellowat some point.
“Now,” Riley continued, “we have bigger dreams here than that, but you take what you can at this level.”