In an example of an ever-shrinking world, I have heard about this missing girl from three different people in the last day or so with ties to her, one friend I went to elementary school with in New York who has a cousin that knows Chelsea’s family, one I went to high school with in South Florida who lives in her area now, and a fellow Fansided.com blogger who goes to school with Chelsea and produced this youtube video. Please, if you have any knowledge of the whereabouts of this young lady, alert the authorities.

Thank you.

He’s one of my favorite Heat players of all time. I am partial to the glue guys – they may not be flashy, but they give 100% for the team. It’s why he’s on my short list with Udonis Haslem, Dan Majerle, PJ Brown, Keith Askins, and James Posey as non-star players whom I loved having on this team.

It’s startling to see how fast his Parkinson’s seems to have progressed, here is a nice story on him teaming with the great Michael J. Fox in their fight against this disease.

That’s from the song “Jumper” by Third Eye Blind, and the title has nothing to do with a sweet Dwyane Wade 18 footer.

As you know by now, the Heat stood pat at the trading deadline, despite being heavily linked to Amare Stoudamire for about a week, and a late push reportedly for Carlos Boozer (although some reports said they were trying for Boozer to send to Phoenix in another Amare permutation).

Look, with or without Amare this season, the Heat are not winning the NBA title this year. By most accounts, Riley was trying to swindle the Suns for Amare, sending him spare parts and shiny beads for a 3 month rental/tryout. The one chip that probably would have made it happen, Michael Beasley, was apparently not on the table.

Amare now knows the Heat wanted him. Essentially, Riley was recruiting him for the summer, should he be the target. I, for one, am of the belief Riley (and Wade) know the score, and have known for seasons who the targets are, and probably know the likelihood of those targets coming here.

I can’t picture LeBron leaving Cleveland, unless they really screw up in the playoffs and he sees no way to win there without teaming up with another superstar. Another upset like the one Orlando delievered last season, say, or a sweep by the western conference in the finals, and he may be fed up.

Instead, I think Bosh is the likely player to come, with Amare as the backup plan. This is why Beasley was not in play, because he is going to be needed as trade bait for other starting pieces, be it a center or guard, or both. It’s why Riley has kept the two first round picks, so he can dangle those in the summer to get players in a sign and trade or straight up trade scenario.

Call me naïve, but Riley has waited this far, and it is no time to rip up the plan.

Of course, if the plan doesn’t work out and all he ends up with is Wade bolting and the 2010 Heat are starring T-Mac and Nate Robinson, uhh, that ledge I spoke of earlier will be getting crowded.

While I can’t repost the article, since it is from ESPN Insider, John Hollinger had a lengthy column today about how the Heat could be in better position to sign LeBron or Bosh by trading for Amare Stoudamire before the trading deadline next week.

Basically, his premise is this:

- Heat trade Beasley for Amare, and get rid of Daequan Cook’s 2.1 million contract for next year in the process or via another transaction and Amare opts in (as he threatened to do in PHX) for his $17M. The Heat would STILL have $10 to $12 million with Wade re-signing and Amare’s opt-in, to offer a 2nd tier free agent like Rudy Gay, Carlos Boozer, or David Lee.

He doesn’t mention that the Heat would also then have Amare’s giant deal expiring for 2011, where they can trade him next season or be in a position to add a 2011 free agent (where among the restricted and unrestricteds will be: Al Horford (R), Joakim Noah (R), Nene, Carmelo Anthony, Tayshaun Prince, Marc Gasol (R), Kevin Durant (R), Jeff Green (R), Caron Butler, and Marcus Banks). Ok, I threw that last one in to make sure you were paying attention.

Hollinger also mentions if Amare opts out, the Heat are in an attractice location none-the-less. He thinks they’d try to convince him to re-sign a longer deal at around $13M a year, since they can offer him 6 years (vs an extension which would only be allowed at 3 years). If he signs on for $13M, they’d have enough to offer a max contract to Bosh or Lebron.

Hollinger concludes his article with this paragraph that should make even the most nervous Heat fans smile:

“But regardless of how and when the Heat’s transactions go down, the handwriting on the wall is clear: Miami is poised to transform its franchise into a powerhouse, provided Wade is willing to go along with the program. Despite the recent drama, it appears to be all systems go on that front. As a result, Wade and the Heat will be at the center of what could be the most transformative half a year that the league has seen in some time.”

As per Adrian Wojnarowski, who broke the Heat’s interest in Lamar Odom (and Carlos Boozer) last summer:

Miami Heat president Pat Riley has emerged as one of the most determined pursuers of Phoenix Suns forward Amar’e Stoudemire(notes), proposing several different packages that make available any of his players short of Dwyane Wade(notes), league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Heat have discussed several scenarios with the Suns, including packages that include combinations of young players (Michael Beasley, Dorell Wright) and expiring contracts (Jermaine O’Neal and Quentin Richardson) The Heat are also willing to part with their 2010 first-round draft pick.

”Nobody is pushing harder on this than Riley,” one league source said.

The Suns are believed to be in discussions with as many as six teams, although more may yet show themselves before the Feb. 18 trade deadline. The Philadelphia 76ers remain involved, but have rejected the Suns’ attempts to attach guard Jason Richardson(notes) to a larger package that would include Samuel Dalembert(notes) and Andre Iguodala(notes).

League sources say the Sacramento Kings also have discussed a package that would include sending Kevin Martin(notes) to the Suns for Stoudemire.

The Suns don’t want to lose Stoudemire for nothing if he opts out of the $17.6 million on the final year of his contract. It’s doubtful whether the Suns and Stoudemire can reach agreement on a contract extension, and the clock is clearly ticking on Suns owner Robert Sarver and GM Steve Kerr.

League sources say the Suns are dubious the Heat can present the best possible package for Stoudemire, and aren’t enamored with any of the combinations. Still, Miami is near, or at, the top of Stoudemire’s preferred destinations and he would assuredly sign an extension to play with Wade there. Several suitors have been frightened away from seriously bidding on Stoudemire, because they don’t want to give up valued assets for a short-term rental. The Suns are taking a gamble should they keep Stoudemire past the trade deadline.

As the Heat struggle, Riley is motivated to get a complementary frontcourt star to persuade Wade to re-sign with Miami this summer. Riley knows Wade is frustrated with the Heat’s struggles. Miami is clinging to the eight playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and ended a five-game losing streak on Tuesday with a victory over the Houston Rockets.

Riley doesn’t want to wait until the summer to get into the free-agent chase when he could try to sign Stoudemire to a contract.

I find it hard to believe the Heat would use Beasley as an asset to obtain Amare who could bolt after the season. I do believe they’d send any other package of expirings, picks, and young guys for him. I don’t see Riley blowing up the 2010 plan of Lebron (pipe dream) or Bosh (better fit, younger, healthier, than Amare).

Thoughts?

Finally, it looks like the hammer might be meeting the nail a little bit. On message boards and on the radio, fans have been drilling young Heat coach Erik Spoelstra for the team’s inconsistency and failures.

It looks like Wade also may be taking umbrage with his coach.

As per Ira Winderman’s article,

“Wade said predictability has contributed to the team’s series of late-game struggles.

“We’ve got to find a way also to mix it up, stop being a team that everybody knows exactly what we’re going to do and they just play us the same way,” the seventh-year guard said.

While this season never has been cast as one of championship contention, it has been cast as a bridge to this summer’s free agency, with Wade’s future in the balance.

For the moment, the foundation of support between player and team appears to be fractured.

“We should be much better,” Wade said. “I’m not going to say we should be number one in the East, but we should be a little better.”

I’d like to see them play more up-tempo and perhaps replace Quentin Richardson in the starting lineup with Dorell Wright. Beasley has proven he deserves as many minutes as he can physically handle, in my mind, all the way through the fourth quarter.

No one else on the roster, other than Wade, can get his own shot, and we need him out there.

Again, the focus remains the 2010 offseason and it almost seems like the team knows its zombies – walking dead who more than likely won’t be here next year and if they are, they ain’t getting paid like they think they should (I think there’s a chance guys like Q, Jermaine O’Neal, Rafer Alston may be back at minimal salaries, but if they expect paydays, it won’t be down here).

Is replacing Spoelstra the answer? Not this season, to me. I don’t think having Ron Rothstein (or one of the other assistants) at the helm would make an impact.

Riley isn’t coming down from the front office to coach a 6th-8th seeded team.

My own feeling on coaching is it is SO overrated: Doc Rivers coached an Orlando team that lost 20 games in a row, then became a genius in Boston, something tells me he didn’t get smarter as much as his players were better. We had Riley coach a 15 win team down here. However, coaches can be replaced and the 8 guys on the roster who don’t play well can’t, easily.

That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if Spo isn’t the coach here next year, when we get our max player(s) to go along with Wade. I could see Riley disciple Byron Scott or even close ally Mike Fratello coming in if Wade and company don’t see Spo as the person to lead them when we expect a legit run.

There’s been speculation raised recently that the Suns are realizing they either can’t or won’t pay Amare Stoudamire to re-sign this offseason and that the Heat, among other teams, have shown interest in him.

Here’s the thing, Heat fans. The Suns would only do this trade to receive Michael Beasley in return. They don’t need expiring contracts because, well, Amare IS expiring already. They’d be better off keeping him and using him as a sign and trade bait in the offseason, and get something from someone in return… a player, picks, etc.

Now if you’d move Beasley, who has been steadily improving and is cheap for Amare, who’d you have to be to re-sign at a max contract is a fair debate.

The cons: Amare has had injury trouble in the past, has had microfracture knee surgery, and bases his game on athleticism. He is going to be 28 in November, and has a lot of mileage already. He is a great player, but Beasley is 1/4th the price and 7 years younger. One can argue Amare is tailor suited in the offense he is already in, playing with one of the best point guards of all time in a high octane system, and yet never has stood out as a winning player. You’d be giving up the chance at LeBron or Bosh in the offseason.

Pros: By trading for a chip you’d like to have now, you can trade off your other assets (expiring contracts like Jermaine O’Neal, Quentin Richardson, Dorell Wright) for other pieces and be ready to make a move. Other names who we’ve heard as potentially being available include Andre Iguodala, Tracy McGrady, and any Washington Wizard, up to and including George Muresan and Micheal Adams.

My verdict: I see the appeal if the target was Bosh, which is not likely now that Toronto has gotten hot and is playing well. To me, Amare is not worth Beasley at this point, and I’d hold off.

Any thoughts by you guys?

Dwyane was on MSNBC today talking about the efforts that he and Alonzo Mourning are making to help Haiti.
Please consider donating to the Red Cross, the new Clinton Bush fund, or Project Medishare, http://projectmedishare.org/who-are-we/index.cfm?page=Our%20Mission&id=3, which is the charity Wade is talking about here.

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