Miami New Times on the Heat Draft

Our good friend from FinsNation also happens to write for the Miami New Times (and excellently, we should add). Today, he put forth a brilliant take on the Heat's Draft last night. I encourage all of you to read it.

Here's an excerpt:

"After weeks and days and hours of the gut-wrenching, edge of your seat, puke in somebody’s Cup-O-Noodles, bite your fingernails to the nub, can’t stand the suspense so I’ll just punch a random stranger in the gonads tension that Heat President Pat Riley put us through, he eventually eased all the useless anxiety and did the right thing by drafting our man Beasley. Yes, Riley had himself a serious man-crush on one OJ Mayo. But just as he almost inexplicably drafted Chris Kaman over Dwyane Wade in 2003 but ultimately made the right decision, Riley eventually came to his senses and took the right guy again last night. Why he chooses to do this to us is beyond me."

What a beautifully-crafted description of the angst we all felt, that then subsided into relief. Chris Joseph is always a delight to read, and we look forward to referencing him in the future.

Rousing Draft Success For Heat

After the many seemingly endless weeks of speculation about what Pat Riley would do in the 2008 NBA Draft, he made the biggest possible splash he could by just playing it safe. The Heat is now a viable contender to be a high playoff seed next season, if it remains healthy. A nucleus of Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, and Sean Marion is a force to be reckoned with. Flash is the tried-and-tested superstar, Marion is a tried-and-tested double-double machine and all around energetic pogo stick, and Beasley outshone Kevin Durant's Big XII numbers as a freshman in every way last season and there's no reason not to think he'll make every bit the impact or more as Durant made in his first NBA Rookie of the Year season.

But as many people suspected that the Heat would go with Beasley as that they would not. What WAS surprising was Riley's masterful 2nd Round moves. The Heat traded for the rights to Kansas national championship legend Mario Chalmers, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2008 Final Four. Chalmers was deeply impressive the past couple of seasons at Kansas. He is as smooth a shooter as they come, and we know that he won't shrink from clutch situations - you will remember that he was the ice-vein who hit the 3-pointer that sent the national championship game against Derrick Rose's Memphis Tigers into overtime with time expiring. The Heat weren't done, deciding to pick another Kansas player, Darnell Jackson, but then trading him to Cleveland for their second round pick in 2009.

In the end, Riley, master psychologist, played us all. The talk about Beasley being an immature prankster and about Miami's overwhelming infatuation with O.J. Mayo was all a smokescreen. Riley said, "I don't think there was any question on our part. We love Michael." New coach Erik Spoelstra described the rampant speculation the last few weeks as "a little humorous." You can play me like a fiddle anytime you want Pat, if you can deliver studs like Beasley and Chalmers.

Wade and O.J. Mayo "Good Friends"

Now here's something that can put a wrench in the Beasley-to-Miami talk. I'm not sure what Mayo and Wade have been talking about, but apparently they've been working out together and they really like each other.

This is not something to take lightly. It's no secret that Riley covets Mayo...could Wade be quietly campaigning for his new buddy?

I still maintain that Beasley is the far better selection, but a strong Wade-Mayo chemistry could make a Mayo selection a little easier to stomach.

We'll have updates on the latest rumors throughout the day.

What Will the Heat Do?

I don't know. Seriously, I don't know, and apparently neither does anyone outside of Pat Riley. The prevailing report today is (and this comes from several papers) that...nobody knows what Riley will do!

So let's step inside Riley's head for a moment. He's relishing all the attention, and he sees this as an opportunity to make gold out of what previously appeared a dismal situation.

I think he REALLY wants Elton Brand, but I'm guessing against the deal happening. Will he pass on Beasley and take O.J. Mayo? I say no. When all is said and done, I suspect the Heat will follow form and take Michael Beasley (unless Derrick Rose is available, of course).

NOTE: The Heat are not done if they take Beasley. In fact, they would probably take him and trade him if a trade is to be done, so don't flip off the television.

ESPN's Chad Ford Thinks Mayo to Miami Likely

According to ESPN's Chad "Take Anything I Say With A Grain Of Salt" Ford, the Heat are in discussions with a number of teams to trade the #2 pick away and want to draft USC's O.J. Mayo or Arizona's Jerryd Bayless (and get additional assets from the team they make the trade deal with). Sources even supposedly told Ford that Mayo has been notified that even if the Heat cannot find a suitable trade offer, the Heat would strongly consider drafting him outright at #2.

I honestly don't know why Riley is so put off by Michael Beasley. I have heard that he can be a "prankster". Well, here are only a couple of facts involving Mayo: (1) His senior year of high school he was ejected for allegedly making physical contact with a referee and (2) He was accepting payments from a sports agency to go to USC and leave after his freshman season. How is Beasley any worse, Pat?

I get the feeling that if we don't take Beasley, it will be for stupid reasons and we'll be watching him tear it up for some other team for years to come, and feel a similar lingering pang of regret that the Blazers felt and continue to feel for having picked Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in 1984.

Take a deep breath, Pat. Beasley is not so bad, and if he likes to have too much fun, just discipline him. But don't pass up a potential scoring and rebounding machine that could be a dominant superstar in the league for a dozen years.

Rose or Beasley? Hmmm.

I've given this more and more thought over the last few days, and I've come to only one conclusion:

They're both about even. How's that for taking a stand! I know somewhere in our readership, an AP English teacher is thinking: "When you make a persuasive argument, pick a side!" Yes, yes, I know. And yet, I'm hopelessly straddling the fence. They have a number of pros and cons, and it just seems to break out evenly right now. Before the draft takes place, though, I promise to endorse one.

I should add, however, that in their evenness, they both dwarf O.J. Mayo in my estimation. I don't want the Heat to trade the pick, and I certainly don't want them taking Mayo. There, that's a stand!

OJ Mayo? Really Pat?

On May 20th, I sat in front of my television sweating like a pig, shaking, like I had just witnessed a murder. The truth is, I was watching some guy called Adam Silver pull out NBA team logos from an envelope. As the announcement of the top 3 picks arrived, I began praying to any higher power: Jehova, Jesus, Allah, Dwyane Wade, etc. When Silver announced that the Timberwolves were to pick 3rd in the NBA draft, it was finally over. Months of stressing ended in a final sigh of relief for me, we finally had it, the #2 pick.

At one point, this was the ultimate gift for the Miami Heat. It was easy, there were no worries about "Rose vs Beasley," one of them was going to fall to us. Let Chicago carry the burden of picking the ultimate superstar, and embrace the other. First we heard that the Bulls are going to choose Beasley, they already have a solid Point Guard, and Rose was going to be ours. Then we heard that they would pick Rose, we would end up with Beasley. A 19 year old who averaged 26/12 in his freshman year, cool, I can deal with that. So for days I basked in the beauty that were these rumors, until the inevitable turning point came.

Suddenly Chad Ford, an ESPN NBA "expert," began to throw "O.J. Mayo to the Heat" talk at us. Great, exactly what we need, an easily disgruntled, problem filled, shooting guard. Let me remind you Heat fans who tried to forget that Miami had a basketball team after last year's disaster. Dwyane Wade, remember him? Yeah, he's also a shooting guard. Anyways, Ford insisted that it is now a 3 man race between: Mayo, Beasley and Rose. Did I miss something, or did O.J. Mayo have some amazing preformance that boosted him in front of Beasley? Suddenly, questions arose regarding Beasley, as I sat in my chair with the urge to run to Bristol, Connecticut and introduce Chad Ford to the inside of my hand.

Then the reports began to come in "that O.J. and Dwyane Wade have been talking a lot and going out to dinner." As these rumors moved along, it has become more apparent that our star, Dwyane Wade, wants O.J. Mayo. If anybody can talk Pat Riley into making a decision, its the guy who has kept him relevant, "Flash" himself. All of these stories have come with those of "Rose to the Bulls." Now, could the heart of our team, D-Wade, be worried that with the addition of Beasley, his number of touches will decline? Is Dwyane that selfish? Let's hope not.
To be honest, I am too weak to handle all of this talk. I have begun fighting with myself.

-"Hey, when has Riley ever given away inside information on any of his decisions?"
-"Wait, isn't this the guy that wanted Chris Kaman over Dwyane Wade?"

So all we can do now is wait. Feverishly, uncomfortably wait. Why do I put myself through all this?

More Drivel From Chad Ford

Chad Ford now says that he has heard from undisclosed Heat brass that USC's O.J. Mayo is closer than most people think to being the Heat's chosen consolation prize if the Bulls select Derrick Rose with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft. Ford reports that many close to the Heat are convinced that Mayo is the most NBA-ready player coming out of college this year. At a private workout with the Heat, he shot around 70% and was connecting on some Top-10-worthy alley-oops.

An ironic wrinkle to Ford's report is that Mayo is forging a close relationship with Dwyane Wade, which to Ford, lends some credibility to the notion that Mayo, and not Michael Beasley, could be the Heat's choice later this month if Rose goes to Chicago. Funny - if Wade is going to the Bulls, as Ford suggests, then why does the budding Wade-Mayo friendship make Mayo-to-Heat increasingly likely to Ford? It's a free country, I guess - you're not obligated to make sense.

I still think that Beasley would be a better selection. Better to bring Beasley in to a potential logjam at power forward then Mayo into a guaranteed logjam at shooting guard (while Wade and Mayo may be getting close, they play the same position!). Mayo is not a natural point guard (for that, see Rose, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams). And while the knock on Beasley is that he has some character issues, Mayo's character is far from untouchable. Remember that time he was essentially paid to go to USC and sign with an NBA agent back when he was in high school?

Beasley is still the monster who put up mind-boggling numbers for a Kansas State team that had, without him, had no reason to go to the NCAA Tournament. NBA ready? Talk to most league executives and have them tell you about Beasley's strength and unreal-for-his-age repertoire of post moves. Don't get me wrong, O.J. is a stud; but let's not forget that Rose and Beasley are in a class of their own. It really is them and everyone else.

Heat Draft Choices Don't Measure Up

It's a well-known fact that basketball players tend to overstate their height. There are a number of ways to justify this phenomenon, but it's somewhere in between innocence and the more unseemly trend of baseball players understating their age.

Well, eventually the truth comes out. As Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald reports, there is a major height inconsistency with one of the Heat's potential draftees. Let's see which one.

1. Derrick Rose: Listed at 6'3. 6'1 1/2 without shoes, 6'2 1/2 with shoes. Not that bad at all.

2. Michael Beasley: Listed at 6'10. 6'7 without shoes, 6'8 1/4 with shoes. WHAT??? That's not even close!

I'm beginning to lose hope in the idea of the Bulls taking Beasley over Rose. Beasley just seems to keep developing negatives, while Rose is soaring. Do the Heat want a 6'7 Beasley at PF? I'm not sure, but I'd still take him over OJ Mayo in a heartbeat.