Miami Heat 2.0

The dust has settled and it is now time to look at the new run and gun Miami Heat. The big news coming out of the NBA yesterday was Miami sending Shaquille O'Neal to Phoenix for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. While it is sad to see Shaquille the personality leave South Florida, his on court prowess had faded away. Without the talent to surround O'Neal with his skills seemed to diminish to the point where the Heat even with both him and Wade on the court still struggled for a win. Even with the dreams of landing a top 3 draft pick becoming a reality, the Heat seemed years away from getting their act together, so moving Shaq was the right move.

Not only did they move Shaq and his large contract, but they got back a 4 time all star, Shawn Marion, and young point guard who has not reached his potential, Marcus Banks. Maybe Banks will never reach his potential or maybe he just needed a team that had no other viable options. Banks came into the league as a super fast score first point guard, and that is still what he is 5 years into the league. Banks was brought to Phoenix for those reasons, but the Suns soon realized that they needed more of a setup guy with all of their scorers on the roster, however the Heat have no such issue. Banks joins a team that has all but given up on Jason Williams and has to have come to the realization by now that Chris Quinn is nothing more than a backup. A serviceable backup who can hit some shots from outside, but he is not a lead guard. Maybe Banks seizes the moment and fills the hole at the point or maybe he just becomes another contractual burden, at the end of the day he was just a throw-in to get Shawn Marion.

Marion is young and energetic player who can play at either forward spot, while guarding any player on the court. There is nothing on the court athletically that he can't do, and that was always on display with the fast breaking Suns, but will his game translate to the Eastern Conference? Marion has always thought of himself as a top ten player in the NBA, who was underutilized in the Suns offense, and that created a rift in the locker room. Like I mentioned earlier, the Heat are not a roster that has many options for scoring outside of Wade, so Marion will always have the green light. Even if he proves himself wrong and is not a go to guy, he is so active that it is hard to believe that he won't still get 15-20 points just being around the bucket.

Marion's activity is what has made him an all star and a stat sheet filler. He will help right away, cause he gets his hands on so many balls. Whether it is via rebounding, blocking shots, or getting steals; he has one of the best all around games. Many scouts have said that he is the reason that the Suns are able to play fast paced so effectively. His constant motor forces the tempo on both ends of the court. With Alonzo Mourning out for the season the Heat has no defensive identity, but Marion will quickly change that. Hopefully the sight of Marion locking down the other teams best player will inspire Wade to lock in defensively as well. For as great as Wade is on offense he has been abissmal on defense, and if the Heat is going to ever turn it around he needs to make the commitment to playing both ends. That is what made Michael Jordan the best and that is why separates Kobe Bryant from Dwayne these days.

So the All Star Game is a few weeks away and the Heat have made the choice to fully rebuild around Wade, with hopes that Marion can be the perfect complement, but if the season does not show enough promise expect Marion to opt out and the Heat would then have tons of cap space to pursue another superstar in a great crop of free agents.