Offseason Movement: The team acquired two big names via the draft. Michael Beasley should play a ton of minutes right away and Mario Chalmers is a nice point guard prospect. The Heat also signed three-point specialist James Jones and signed Shaun Livingston to a two-year deal.
Keep Your Eye On: Michael Beasley, F
In many ways, the Heat’s playoff chances rely heavily on how quickly the talented scoring forward can adjust to the NBA game. He is averaging over 15 points and 48% shooting in preseason, so all signs point to a ROY-type season. Beasley can score from just about anywhere on the court and he and Dwyane Wade should provide a formidable one-two punch.
The Big Question: Can Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley co-exist?
Conventional wisdom states that Marion and Beasley play the same position so therefore one of them (Marion) has to go. But in today’s NBA, I see no reason why the two can’t play together on Miami’s frontline. Beasley is a player that has to have the ball in his hands. You run plays for him, you throw it to him in the post, whatever. Conversely, Marion is an energy player who gets most of his points on the break, on offensive rebounds or spotting up in the corner for a three-point shot. The Marion trade talk is already hot and heavy, and there are two things working against the Matrix sticking around in Miami – his age and his asking price. He’s 30, so does he really fit into Miami’s rebuilding plan? Is Miami really rebuilding or could they contend in the next 1-3 seasons? If so, it might be wise to hold onto Marion if the trio gels. If not, the Heat will almost certainly trade Marion, though finding a taker might be tough considering his asking price. A Marion for Lamar Odom swap makes a lot of sense for both teams. The other option is to let Marion go, which will free up a ton of cap space next summer.
Outlook: With Wade, Beasley and Shawn Marion, the Heat have a very scary lineup at the 2-3-4. If all three – but especially Wade – can stay healthy, and they can get decent play at center ant point guard, Miami will make some noise. I’m sure I will take some flack for picking the Heat to finish ahead of the Cavs, but I just like Wade’s supporting cast a lot more. It’s not that Miami is deeper, it’s just that Marion and Beasley are probably better than the next two guys on Cleveland’s roster. Honestly, things are so tight in the middle third of the league that it doesn’t really matter.

The U.S. men’s basketball team accomplished its goal of winning a gold medal by defeating a feisty Spanish team, 118-107. I give credit to NBC for airing the game live even though it was on at 2:30 AM on the East Coast. It’s too bad that they didn’t plan to air it again later in the morning, because it was a great game.

With Kobe Bryant and LeBron James in foul trouble throughout the first half, the game was tight but Dwyane Wade came off the bench to score 21 points in the first two quarters to lead the Americans to a 69-61 halftime lead. Spain continued to fight back throughout the second half, eventually cutting the lead to two on a Rudy Fernandez long ball with 8:13 to play. It was gut-check time for the U.S.; they had allowed Spain to get back into the game with a combination of sketchy shot selection and poor defense and once again it looked like the Americans would be plagued by fractured play.

But down the stretch it was Kobe who took control, scoring eight points and dishing out a couple of assists over the next five minutes to build the lead to nine. Spain cut it to four with 2:25 to play, but Wade hit a clutch three to push the lead back to seven. Carlos Jiminez missed a wide-open three (after just knocking one down) that would have cut the lead to three with 1:33 to play, but Bryant hit a tough shot in the lane on the Americans’ next possession to effectively put the game out of reach.

Defense had been Team USA’s calling card throughout the Olympics, but save for a couple of key stops, they just didn’t have it tonight. Luckily, they were able to knock down their three-pointers (13/28, 46%), which is something that has hurt the U.S. in the past. Wade led all scorers with 27 points and had four steals. Bryant chipped in with 20, including those eight crucial points in the fourth quarter. LeBron James played a solid all-around game, posting 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Spain was led by Pau Gasol (22 points), Fernandez (21) and Juan Carlos Navarro (18). They were playing without Raptors’ point guard Jose Calderon, who was sidelined with a groin injury. (Fernandez joins the Portland Trailblazers next season and he looks like a star in the making. He’s just 23, stands 6′6″, and has a great jumper. He also handles the ball well and attacks the rim. He is starter-quality, but may come off the bench behind Jerryd Bayless and Brandon Roy.)

Hats off to Jerry Colangelo and Mike Krzyzewski for putting together a team capable of winning the gold. For the most part, they set their egos aside and played together, which is necessary these days to have success at the Olympic level. Every player knew and played his role.

Now where does the program go from here? It will be interesting to see if USA Basketball pushes forward with the same philosophy or, with this success, if they get lulled into a false sense of security. I’m betting on the former, but you never know.

Even with six current or former NBA players, Spain was no match for Team USA in the fourth of five games of pool play. The combination of the Americans’ defense (16 steals) and three-point shooting (12-25, 48%) led to a 119-82 rout of the 2006 World Champions.

LeBron James led the U.S. in scoring with 18 points, while also posting eight assists, five rebounds and four steals. Dwyane Wade continued his fine play off the bench with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals. In total, the Americans had eight players in double figures.

Both teams have secured spots in the medal round and if the current standings hold, they wouldn’t meet again until the finals. The U.S. team plays Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Kaman and the rest of the German team at 8 am on Monday (on the USA Network) in the final game of pool play. The medal round starts on Wednesday.

It isn’t going to be this easy. The U.S. men’s basketball team beat Angola, 97-76, in preliminary pool play.

Dwyane Wade scored 19 points, James dominated the game with his size and strength on both ends, and the U.S. Olympic team wrapped up the easy portion of its schedule with a 97-76 victory Tuesday night.

Dwight Howard added 14 points and James finished with 12 for the Americans, who had another rough night from 3-point range but don’t appear to be stoppable in the open court. Wade was perfect from the field in Beijing until missing in the third quarter.

The Americans (2-0) moved on to face Greece, the team that stunned them two years ago in the semifinals of the world championship. Two days later comes a matchup with Spain, the team that won that tournament and is also 2-0 in this one after rallying to beat China in overtime behind 29 points from Pau Gasol.

Look for Team USA’s game against Greece on Thursday (early) morning on the USA Network.

It was a rough start for Team USA in its Olympic opener as China made eight of its first 12 three-point shots. After that run of hot shooting, China was still within three (35-32) with 4:10 to play in the second quarter, but the U.S. outscored the Chinese 66-38 over the last two and a half quarters to win, 101-70.

Dwyane Wade came off the bench to lead Team USA in scoring with 19 points, shooting 7 of 7 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free throw line. LeBron James had an outstanding games, posting 18 points, six rebounds, three assists and three blocks, including two spectacular rejections in the first half.

The U.S. was sloppy at times and struggled to get good inside shots against China’s 2-3 zone. Shooting is still a team weakness as the U.S. made just 7 of 24 from long range. But the Americans’ overall athleticism was just too much in the end.

For China, Yao Ming posted 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and looked pretty active coming off a foot injury. Yi Jianlian, who was drafted by the Bucks but was recently traded to the Nets, had a pretty rough game, missing his first seven shots and finishing 4 of 13 from the field. China is going to need him to play better to make the medal round.

Team USA’s next game is Tuesday morning against Angola. Check your local listings.

Let’s see, Miami drafted their franchise-changing player, Dwyane Wade, in 2003, won a title in 2006, traded away their aging, overpaid center for a talented forward that’s in his prime, and now they have the #2 pick in the draft with a chance at another franchise-changing player?

I guess the lesson here is that if you’re going to tank… tank hard.

I’m not saying that the Heat planned all of this. They certainly went into the season hoping to eventually make a run in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, but a poor start and a series of nagging injuries to Wade forced the Heat’s hand. They found a desperate trade partner in the Suns and rid themselves of the overpaid and under motivated Shaquille O’Neal, landing an All-Star caliber forward (Shawn Marion) in the return. Now their consolation prize will likely be either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley, whomever the Bulls don’t take. How convenient is it that either player should fit nicely alongside Wade and Marion?

Suddenly, the Heat’s short-term prospects are looking pretty good. Who would have said that six months ago?

The Heat have only five players signed past next season: Wade, Mark Blount, Udonis Haslem, Marcus Banks and Daequan Cook, assuming they exercise their option on his rookie contract. Haslem’s contract is very reasonable for what he brings to the table. Banks, who quickly fell out of favor in Phoenix, actually played pretty well for the Heat, averaging 9.5 points and 3.0 assists, while shooting 51.2% from the field and 40.5% from long range. If the team ends up with Beasley, it’s conceivable that a Banks/Wade backcourt could work. If the team drafts Rose, Banks could make a good backup.

The conventional wisdom is that Marion will likely exercise his player option, as he’s not going to be able to get that kind of money ($17.2 million) in the open market. This will allow the Heat to see if the Wade/Marion/rookie-to-be-named-later combo has potential. If it’s a disaster, they may be able to move Marion for a disgruntled or out of favor star before the trade deadline. If it looks like it’s going to work, then they can work out a more reasonable deal for Marion’s services.

Given the type of season they had (and the fact that they had Shaq’s albatross-like contract hanging over their heads for a few more seasons), the Heat are sitting pretty right now. They just simply have to sit back, draft whoever is there at #2, and maybe try to find a defensive-minded big man to man the middle for the mid-level.