Heat Need to Turn to Alternative Sources for Talent

The Miami Heat have financial troubles. Not the kind generated at the box office, but the kind generated by a tight cap and heavy contracts.

Shaq is locked in for another 3 years at $20 million. Dwyane Wade's payday is going to be bumped up about $8 million, from 3.8 M to 12.4M.

That's $32 million for just two players.

The cap was only $53.136M last season, leaving the Heat about $20 M to play with before they get into luxury tax trouble, which they most certainly will be in. To give an idea, the salary cap has risen by about $4-5 M each season:

2006-07 $53.136 million
2005-06 $49.5 million
2004-05 $43.87 million

So, on the positive side of things, Miami could see the cap go up to about $58M this season. And they will need every penny of it because the remaining nine players under contract brings the Heat up to $66M, or about $8M over the cap.

This leaves the Heat with their mid-level salary cap exception (MLE), somewhere in the range of $5M, and with the veteran minimum contract option - which the Heat have an unlimited number with which to form out their team.

That means they have about 5M to re-sign Posey and/or Kapono. Most likely, the Heat will only retain one and it will be debatable whether or not they should use the entire MLE to do just that. To re-sign Posey, it would cost the Heat all of the MLE, for Kapono probably half.

The veteran minimum contracts could be extended to veteran NBA players looking for one year deals to win a championship and fulfill that part of their careers.

To sum up, the Heat cannot realistically overhaul their team roster outside of major trades; they will have to retool their roster by touching up a couple of pieces here and there. Of the players with trade value, realistically only Udonis Haslem (youth, decent contract), Jason Williams (expiring contract) and Dorell Wright (expiring contract, potential) have any value. Antoine Walker has another three years with the contract going up to 8-9M over the subsequent seasons which might undercut his value considering his statistical production this past season.

That leaves the draft and an unconventional talent pool that must be both undervalued and affordable for the Heat's needs.

Miami has the 20th pick in the draft. Although there are some interesting options at that slot (we will be reviewing possible picks in the coming weeks), it is more likely that Riley would trade away the 20th pick than actually use it. Draft picks tend to be overvalued because execs get caught up in the potential of players and drive up their value as well. Yet, if Riley is serious about changing the culture of the Miami Heat back to what it was before they won a championship, this is where he needs to take a stand. The Heat need to draft a young talent that can contribute right away and they have needs at point guard, shooting guard and even small forward. The Heat have to get more athletic.

Coupled with Dorell Wright, the draft pick has to be able to play off of Wade and Shaq, which means he cannot rely on scoring with the ball in his hands, but by scoring without the ball. This goes for any trade in potentia that the Heat might be looking at.

The other part of this equation has to come from an uncervalued source of basketball talent - the international community.

This is where Randy Pfund and his scouts have to make their money if the Heat are going to change things for the better. The team is locked into its financial situation for at least the next three years - or as long as Shaq has a contract with the Heat. As noted earlier, the Heat cannot rebuild but need to retool and the international pool has a lot of talent that could be utilized for just this purpose.

For example, look at the San Antonio Spurs. They have a very good basketball culture; the players are well-coached, disciplined and understand their roles. They are the definition of professional, and they are arguably the best franchise in the NBA. Some of their key members are foreign players - Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker. They also added more depth by going back to the well and grabbing guys like Beno Udrih and Fabricio Oberto. The Miami Heat need to take notice and emulate this as well.

Besides, Miami is a cosmopolitan city and can offer many amenities to international players that could help them feel more at home and adjust to the rigors of playing in the NBA and living in the United States. International players are starting to pop up with more regularity and are having more of an effect on the game than ever before. Tony Parker's best friend, Boris Diaw, is a big commodity for the Suns.

The Heat has two main objectives - to return to the Heat culture of the past and to get more athletic. In order to do this, the Heat have to meet their goals by sidestepping the financial trappings they are faced with in the form of the salary cap and the luxury tax penalties. The manuevering has to begin while at the same time considering the current personnel and whether or not they will fit into the plans going forward.

Over the coming weeks, we will also be targeting and highlighting possible free agents, draft picks, as well as international veterans that might be able to help the Heat's cause. The 2007 offseason promises to be as interesting at the 2005 offseason did for the Miami Heat. The only question remaining is, will it be enough to get the Heat back to the Finals?