[NewAgeBaller]

not saying we shud but putting it out there,,

the main reason for not tanking this season was becoz it was the last season for zo before his retirement and we wanted to send him out with a bang. now if its found zo's tear is serios and likely wont be bak for the season, who wuld rather see us call it a season this early and tank rather than pushing for a slim chacne at the #8 seed? we'd only get swept by boston in the first round anyway..

its really not gona happen until we're about .200 coz of riley+shaq+wade, but who here thinks tanking the season NOW is the better move?

or we culd just play heat basketball, its really the same thing anyway..

[MB30]

Yep - its actually happening. The Heat are 7-18. We arent going to make the playoffs unless we do a trade of some huge magnitude. There isnt a switch thats going to be flipped. We just suck.

With that in mind, lets look at our options in the lottery, assuming we get a top 5 pick. All info is from Draft Express.

MICHAEL BEASLEY

Forward, 6'9", Kansas State

Michael Beasley is off to one of the most impressive starts of any freshman in recent memory, absolutely bulldozing his way through a slew of mediocre competition to put together a stat-line that has box-score reading pundits everywhere salivating. Considering the physical superiority Beasley possesses over the low-major and Division II opponents he’s been facing, it probably wouldn’t be fair to expect him to continue to dominate at quite the level he has so far once he starts picking on people his own size, but it’s absolutely obvious from what we can observe on tape that we’re dealing with an incredibly special talent.

Beasley is a prototypical face the basket modern-day power forward. He is strong, but incredibly quick, possessing the type of agile first step that makes him an absolutely devastating threat creating his own shot from the perimeter. Kansas State is utilizing him a great deal at the top of the key on Isolation plays, where the lefty likes to take his man off the dribble with his smooth ball-handling skills and finish with either with and a variety of pretty floaters and layups. He has incredible body control to get the job done on these types of drives, handling the ball in the open floor like a guard, and at times pulling up off the dribble fluidly from mid-range with the greatest of ease.

DERRICK ROSE

Point Guard, 6'4", Memphis

Watching his footage, it’s hard not to wonder whether Rose might actually be the most athletic point guard we’ve ever evaluated at the college level. We talk about quickness and explosiveness and such all the time on DraftExpress, but Rose is clearly in a class of his own. His first step is nothing short of breathtaking, and when combined with his terrific ball-handling skills (particularly his awesome crossover) and outstanding body control once in the lane, we’re talking about an unstoppable force when it comes to his slashing game. Rose can handle the ball very well with both hands (although he favors his right), and is always looking for an opportunity to use a lethal assortment of jukes and hesitation moves to get to the basket, as he’s supposed to in John Calipari’s offence. Once he’s there, his excellent leaping ability allows him to just hang in the air and finish strong with a variety of acrobatic layups, floaters or sometimes even an emphatic dunk. This leaping ability gives him a chance to finish almost every single time, as he can just wait for the defense to subside and then kiss the ball off the glass on his way down.

ERIC GORDON

Guard, 6'3", Indiana

Through his first 4 games of basketball, Gordon averaged 28 points per game on a very impressive 14 shot attempts, while shooting 60% from behind the three point line. It is unlikely that these numbers will carry over to the high-major opponents that Indiana will face in the coming weeks, but one must take notice of the all-around offensive approach that allows him this great efficiency. In transition, Gordon often handles the ball and can draw contact nearly every time he attacks the basket. Great body control and the ability to adjust around defenders in the air allows him to finish on the majority of these attempts. In the half -court offense, Gordon has proved capable of creating his own shot at will. On his many isolation plays, he can either shoot an early three pointer, pull up off the dribble, or take the ball all the way to the hoop.

Physically, Gordon entered college with an already great body, weighing in at 205 pounds. Along with a chiseled frame, Gordon has explosive leaping ability combined with a quick first step to the basket. These physical attributes give him the potential to lock down defensively. He has proved capable of physical defense against low-major opponents so far, but the real test comes when he will have to defend an elite wing prospect.

DEANDRE JORDAN

Center, 6'11", Texas A&M

DeAndre Jordan is a special player. You can tell the second that you see him on the court. He is a legitimate 7’0 and at 240 pounds doesn’t have to do as much work physically as many young post projects. His athleticism and quickness are stunning and he possesses athletic ability that recalls Dwight Howard and LaMarcus Aldridge. However, apart from his NBA ready size, he already has some NBA ready skills on the offensive and defensive end.

For one, his timing is impeccable. He is a great a rebounder, grabbing 8.4 in 5 games, and has almost as many offensive rebounds (19) than defensive rebounds (23). The way that he times his jump to grab rebounds is very impressive, especially coming from such a raw prospect. Put up against stellar rebounders in the likes of Jon Brockman, he still produces well (10 rebounds and 5 offensive rebounds in 21 minutes). In addition, because of this nice sense of timing and athleticism, Jordan projects to be a good shot blocker at the next level. Despite his 1.2 blocks/game average, he really shows instincts and timing essential to becoming a good shot blocker. At this point, it seems more like he is trying to stay out of foul trouble and less like he exploited his size and athleticism to get blocks in high school. The book is open about his shot blocking ability, but from what he has shown so far, there is a lot to like.

Offensively, he has shown some flashes of potential, as well. For one, the way that he uses his size and athleticism against some of the lesser competition he has faced in McNeese State is impressive, sailing in for acrobatic dunks over smaller competition. Against a more formidable defender, such as Washington’s Jon Brockman, he also showed competency, utilizing some decent footwork to spin and lay the ball in. Overall, Jordan is extremely raw on the offensive end, but these flashes are enough to suggest that he’s going to be able to develop some good post moves in the future. The fact that he has post instincts is promising and the ways that he moves. Also of note is how efficient he is in the Texas A&M offense alongside NIT Tip-Off MVP Joseph Jones. He doesn’t force anything and though he clearly has the ability to be more of a factor on the offensive end, you can tell he is sacrificing his own stat line for the sake of the team.

Feel free to add others who u think would be worthy of a Top 5-10 pick, who would your choice be and why?

[NewAgeBaller]

If we get a Top 3 pick, i'd take Beasley and hope that he and wade could form something special (deron-boozer sorta thing?). If not him, Derrick Rose simply becoz if his value. I guess he could mayb form a young dynamic backcourt duo with wade.. We'd still suck but the sucking part would be much more fun to watch.
If its around the 5th pick, De Andre jordan would be my choice. Great player and excellent size for a bigman but the problem is i dont see him getting any minutes with shaq's fat *** in the way..
I don't really want any part in OJ Mayo or Eric Gordon, i think they'd be pretty poor choices for this team. If Rose plays well enough to pretty much cement himself as the #1 pick for the average team, i'd consider him over beasley i guess..

[MB30]

My choice would be Beasley. I like lefties, and i like skilled lefty combo forwards.

Beasley could hold down that Small Forward role for the next 15 years if we had him...and hed probably be the best one we ever had. Hes too skilled, a great rebounder, and a big time scorer. What are our main problems? no legitamate 2nd/3rd scorer, rebounding, and a small forward.

Consider them fixed.

Otherwise I take Rose. Hes super quick, and him and Wade would be an awesome backcourt...just not a great shooting one.

[Smithian]

We must start playing young guys. The worst possible thing that can happen is a big time run during January or March where we push ourselves to just outside the playoffs and therefore outside of the Top 10 picks.

The prizes for our Miami Heat are Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Rose is a big time PG who we can package with Wade for a one of, if not the best guard combo's in the NBA down the road. Beasley is the big time forward we need to package with Wade down the road. He has no weakness in his game and he'll give us an unstoppable inside outside game down the road with Wade.

What do we need to happen? We need OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon to go NUTS this year. Raise their stock big time and hopefully overtake atleast Derrick Rose. OJ Mayo and Eric Gordon play esentially the same role as Wade already does so we don't need them, but someone else could take them over Rose or Beasley(Not likely on Beasley.).

What happens if our pick rolls around and Beasley/Rose are gone? We trade down a couple picks and take Jerryd Bayless. the PG at Arizona. That or trade the pick a young forward in a big deal, I guess.

[MB30]

Here's some YouTube clips of the Top rated players in the draft:

Michael Beasley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lifPUCkqGRY

Derrick Rose
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5cOc...eature=related

Eric Gordon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McuN8...eature=related

[MB30]

Also - now that Zo is out for the year (most likely) and Shaq will miss 20 games at some point during the year (its inevitable), is it safe to say we are going to get a high pick in this draft? Im almost all the way inclined on tanking. By that I mean i want us to play the young guys for 25+ minutes per night. Dont get me wrong, I never wanna see the Heat lose and it actually bums me out everytime we do...but imagine Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley teamed next to Wade!Insane. Still - theres a long way to go before we go down that road.

[NewAgeBaller]

Originally Posted by BG44

Also - now that Zo is out for the year (most likely) and Shaq will miss 20 games at some point during the year (its inevitable), is it safe to say we are going to get a high pick in this draft? Im almost all the way inclined on tanking. By that I mean i want us to play the young guys for 25+ minutes per night. Dont get me wrong, I never wanna see the Heat lose and it actually bums me out everytime we do...but imagine Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley teamed next to Wade!Insane. Still - theres a long way to go before we go down that road.

that would be the smart move. the absolute worst franchise-killer thing that could happen is us picking it up around the all-star break and making one last push for the playoffs and either just missing out or getting the #8 seed and getting swept in the first anyway..

tanking would no doubt be the smart long-term move and i think this is the best opportunity we're going to get at it. i think we really need to take this.

i've said this before but obviously witha team of riley+shaq+wade+haslem, theres about 0 chance that we intentionally tank in anyway, atleast not until game 60 or so, with no hope at all, and then it'll be too late to tank (coz chicago wuld hav a big headstart on us )..

[NewAgeBaller]

NBADraft.net's 2008 Mock Draft has us picking 2nd in the draft but Beasley going 1st to the Twolves..

Whoever they pick, if we're gona end up tanking anyway we may aswell get a headstart now coz the wolves are pretty gud at wat they do ..

[thaKEAF]

I'd take Rose. You guys would be set in the backcourt with a Rose/Wade combo for years to come.

[seifer0406]

I think if Beasley is available you would take him. I don't think putting Rose or Gordon with Wade is a good idea. Their styles are similar and neither is much of a shooter. With Shaq going it will be better if the Heat can get someone that can play inside.

[IbizaXL]

Originally Posted by seifer0406

I think if Beasley is available you would take him. I don't think putting Rose or Gordon with Wade is a good idea. Their styles are similar and neither is much of a shooter. With Shaq going it will be better if the Heat can get someone that can play inside.

exactly. Beasly sounds promising. he's 6'9 right now, but im sure he'll grow a bit more in a couple of years. maybe 6'11 when is all said and done