Training Camp 2007: It All Starts Here

The offseason hasn't been kind to the Miami Heat - in fact, it seems like they put the "off" in offseason.

From the misses on Mo Williams, Mickael Pietrus, Juan Carlos Navarro - even Charlie Bell - Miami was unable to add a marquee name to its roster. Heck, even a somewhat vague name would have helped.

There is hope though. After years of stacking up with veteran help signing to the bare minimum, Riley FINALLY shifted gears a bit and stocked up on young talent - signing them to the bare minimum.

There is a noted difference in camp with the younger crowd. The team seems a bit more hungry and energetic - things they definitely were not last season.

The buzz? Keep an eye on Jeremy Richardson. We have been pretty high on this guy's athletic ability and his skills offensively. He was kind of labeled a project with some upside, but he has matured physically and with the Heat's system, they may be able to fine tune him enough to get into the rotation. Riley has commented that Richardson reminds him of a young Glen Rice, which would obviously be a good thing for the Heat since they will need to find an offensive shooting presence off the bench to replace Jason Kapono.

Another young guy to keep an eye on is Alexander Johnson. If he can show his promise and deliver consistent performances, he could squeeze into the backup PF role that was envisioned for Wayne Simien. Johnson, however, has more skill, more size, more explosiveness. If both he and Richardson can show they belong, the role for Antoine Walker, the Heat's most controversial and most inefficient player, becomes diminished.

At point guard there seems to be some excitement over Jason Williams' quickness returning. He has said that he feels the best he has in about 5 years, and that his lateral quickness is back and he can actually penetrate into the paint. Everyone has been raving about J-Dub's ability to pass the ball and how his energy level is up. Shedding 15 pounds and resting some surgically repaired knees will help.

Which brings us to Williams' backup, Smush Parker. It seems an ankle injury that never healed is bugging him, keeping him limited in practice for now. Rest assured, that the Heat have a capable backup PG that could keep pushing the tempo once Williams' is resting on the bench. Riley, of course, realizes he cannot push Jason Williams as much, but if healthy, it would be more prudent to keep him minutes limited so he can endure the regular season for the post season.

Yet, if Parker is not able to practice, there is an interesting battle for the 3rd spot heating up between Chris Quinn and Brian Chase. Chase was recently signed by the Heat after Shaq recommended him to Riley. The ex Utah Jazz point guard displays great quickness and agility and proves to be a tough defensive assignment at only 5'9". He is also pushing pressure on Chris Quinn to make the final roster.

As for other tidbits from the start of camp, there is Penny Hardaway's future with the Heat, which seems to be that of veteran presence off the bench much like Shandon Anderson was or even Eddie Jones was of last season. Also, Daequan Cook continues to show promise - the good news is he is playing with confidence and he is in shape. If he can continue to develop his game, he might get some solid minutes in the regular season.

And then there is the biggest question mark of all, Dorell Wright. If he can finally live up to the promise of being the Heat's only high school draft pick ever, it would be a boon for the Heat. He has grown, he has filled out some, and he seems to be taking a much more mature and professional approach this summer as he takes on probably his more pivotal point of his career. If he can show defensive skill while at the same time controlling the ball and hitting his jumper consistently, Riley may have found his starting small forward. If not, the Heat may be pressed to make a move.

All's Quiet on the Offseason Front

We shouldn't mistake the relative quiet from the Heat for inactivity. Rest assured that options are being explored but don't bet on anything happening at this point.

I know we all but gave Mickael Pietrus a Heat jersey, but it is looking like the Heat are retracting their interest. Maybe it is a ploy to drive up Dorell Wright's value - or maybe they really are that interested in Wright after all. One thing is for certain, Riley needs to play him and give him a shot and the only thing that seemed to keep him shackled on the bench was his inconsistent shot. Statistically, you might be surprised to learn that Wright fared pretty well against his peers at his position. He demonstrated himself to be fairly efficient, but he excelled at rebounding and that is something the Heat need more of, especially on the offensive side.

That and the fact that the Heat "leaked" information that Wright is now being listed at 6'10" make him an even more intriguing prospect that even last season. Perhaps some time at PF in addition to SF? We'll see. But it is also one of the reasons why Riley is going to stand "pat" with the roster at this point.

Also, there is the Penny factor. He has been getting rave reviews from other players who have seen him in private workouts, and also he has been doing a pretty good job working with some of the young players like Daequan Cook and Jeremy Richardson - a sleeper at the SF spot that might even get some significant PT if he makes this team.

So, although the Heat haven't made that big splash, and it is uncertain if they will or not, there is reason for hope here as some of the key young players have room for growth and with Kapono and Posey almost entirely out of the way, there is certainly an X factor that could see the Heat's identity change and grow. That is, if Riley is open to it. Which may be illustrated by a trade - if he makes one, he needs to make it. If not, he might be satisfied with his talent already.

Kapono A No No

Goodbye, Kap'n Kapono. We'll miss your deft three point shooting, your jokes, and your golf game.

Jason Kapono just inked (well, not officially as the moratorium on signing free agents won't be lifted until July 11th) a deal with the Toronto Raptors for a reportedly $24M over 4 years. That will take care of his student loans.

Pat Riley foretold the Heat would be losing James Posey and/or Jason Kapono, the two Heat free agents that matter, this offseason. The fact that the Raptors swooped in early only demonstrates that they wanted to sign him before the Heat could use Kapono in a sign-and-trade and force Toronto out. Is the Kap'n worth $6M per annum? Not likely. He is an excellent outside shooter with surprisingly "effective" defense. The fact of the matter is the Heat spotted talent and made it work. So kudos to the Heat staff and kudos to J-Kap for taking advantage of the situation and getting paid.

Dorrel Wright Should Start

This is a plea for sanity. Pat Riley, you paying attention?

Look, it isn't that I don't love what you have done with the place, but it is time to tweak things just a bit more. The funny thing is, you don't really have a choice.

Dwyane Wade is out. He will rehab and I sense he will only come back to the Heat if he thinks it is really worth it. Sounds like an audition? Well, it is.

Jason Kapono, in the midst of a huge slump, twists his ankle and is going to be out for the meantime. It might be 5 games, it might be more. Strangely, I don't feel that bad about it because it seems Wade made Kapono the player he is more so than Shaq was going to. Just look at Kapono's recent games: in his last 6 games, he has only scored double digits twice (17 against Cleveland, 24 against the Knicks). Before that, you would have to go back 1 month to catch a game where the Kap'n didn't drop double digits on a team.

So, here Riley sits behind his desk, the shades drawn close to keep the light from entering. Dark, dank, Riley, hands on his forehead supporting his head over his desk while he stares at his roster. Now what? Now who? What will work?

The Heat are 3.5 games in back of Washington for the division lead. The Heat are in sole possession of the 6th spot in the standings and only 7.5 in back of Detroit for the #1 spot. Things couldn't be better considering.

Yet, the Heat are going to have to rely on an older team to get them into the playoffs. Shaq, drawing rave reviews around the league, is the Shaq of old, and at 35 that seems like no minor accomplishment. Yet, let's not forget that the Diesel has only played in 19 games this season.

This is precisely the reason now is the right time for Dorell Wright. The Heat have a veteran heavy team, and although two of them -- Shaq and Eddie Jones -- have seen lighter action, the rest of them have not.

Dorell Wright is a better solution for a starter over Walker and Posey. Why? Well, Walker is just horribly inconsistent - some nights he's on, some nights he never gets out of his warmups. Or at least he shouldn't.

As for Posey, he is the energy guy in this lineup. He seems more comfortable coming off the bench and giving the Heat a boost when they need it. He is the Red Bull of this team, just pop him open and let him go.

Wright presents an interesting possibility to the Heat's starting lineup. For starters, he can play the 2 guard or small forward, but considering Riley is starting EJ for Wade, it seems Wright would be mostly at SF.

Wright has long arms, and can defend smaller or bigger players. He is an excellent rebounder - bringing a dimension that Kapono doesn't. He can also handle the ball and bring it up over the half court - if Riley wanted to cut JWill loose for a moment. Wright can score inside or outside - his shot is coming along and maturing. Plus, Wright has shown more poise on the court and understands what to do at certain times offensively.

If this kid is going to develop and be a part of this franchise, Riley has to let him go loose out there. Now is his chance. The crazy thing is, Riley doesn't have much choice.

To roll Walker out as the starting SF would be to kill the bench's potential for scoring - which has scored 30+ points in the last two contests. And with the premium on scoring with this team already, you might not want to mess with the rhythm.

Sure, Wright doesn't have the range that Kapono has or even Posey, but that isn't the thing the first unit needs as much. EJ is serving Shaq the ball in the post, which was helping keep team defenses honest from doubling Shaq. Yet, EJ's stroke isn't quite there yet, but he can make that three off of a Shaq re-post or kick -- Kapono wasn't being given that chance by Riley anyway. So, Wright would replace Kapono and that dynamic suffers nothing.

The other thing to consider is Wright can create with his dribble. If Shaq is having a hard time in the post, kick it out and around to Wright who could penetrate and create - something Payton is not having much success doing.

Wright adds another dimension of athleticism, of speed, heck, of youth to this team. If this team is going to get deeper into the playoffs, they might as well have everyone sharpened and ready to go.

It's the Wright time for Wright.

Wade and Kapono Lead a Hot Night in Vegas

Dwyane Wade entered the Skills competition to defend his title from last season. The competition was thick; Nash, Lebron James, Chris Paul and Kobe. Nonetheless, the Flash was flawless and demonstrated himself not only to be a potent offensive weapon, but to be a machine of the utmost precision.

In the final round, he put the pressure on Kobe by executing a flawless run in only 26.3 seconds. Kobe started off good, but failed to make the crisp pass necessary and instead spent the whole rack correcting his mistake. It seemed the whole shrank for Kobe, and Wade won as Kobe finished with a disappointing time of 42 seconds.

Hoisting the trophy on high, it seems that this could be another notch in Wade's belt and it comes at the expense of Kobe Bryant. Let the comparisons continue.

As that debate will undoubtedly rage on, Jason Kapono made some noise of his own. A late invite to the NBA shootaround for the three point contest, Kapono was only seen as a favorite by the fans that know his game - yep, us Heat fans. (Yours truly actually picked him to win, even though I buried Kapono at the beginning of the season!).

Kapono shot a blazing 70% from downtown to shock and awe his final competition of Dirk Nowitski and Gilbert "Agent Zero Brains" Arenas. Kapono started the final round first and hit 24 points, tying the record set by Mark Price. Dirk melted under the pressure and Arenas started cold and could never catch up.

This win for Kapono continues to build on his amazing season, and also adds credibility to his ability as league marksman. He may now become even more the marked man as a result by opposing teams.

Still, the Heat presence was well-felt, as both competitors represented the Heat in ultimate fashion and winning their respective competitions. Not bad. Let's see if Wade can grab that MVP trophy tomorrow night...or maybe even Shaq.