The future is a mystery for the Miami HEAT. After the 2009-2010 season the team is only sure to have five guys under contract—Michael Beasley, Daequan Cook, Mario Chalmers, Joel Anthony, and James Jones. Beyond that, just about anything can happen with what looks to be about as close to a clean slate as any team could hope to have.
If Dwyane Wade picks up his player option for '10-'11 or, even better for Miami, agrees to some sort of long-term max extension over the course of the next twelve months, that relatively clean slate looks a heck of a lot more promising. Six guys under contract, three of which are inexpensive rookie deals, leaves a lot of flexibility to cause some damage next year in free agency. Maybe Chris Bosh? Maybe Carlos Boozer? Maybe Joe Johnson? Who knows? The possibilities are limitless.
But that's next year. For now the possibilities are hindered quite a bit by big contracts that nobody seems to want to trade for. Boozer, for example, was supposed to be the prize of this offseason, but Miami just didn't have the pieces to get a deal done.
What's worse is that when you're paying almost $8 million for Mark Blount and $23 million for Jermaine O'Neal, you're not able to offer a perfect player for the HEAT like Lamar Odom any more than the midlevel exception. Of course he returned to Los Angeles. That's where the money was. And, to his credit, the championship ring he won.
Does losing out on both Boozer and Odom make this offseason a clunker? On some levels, sure, but it's a bit unfair to expect Miami to do much knowing their payroll was already stacked to begin with. They were supposed to pretty much come back with what they had last season. Getting another All-Star quality player would've been a coup because, let's face it, had they pulled either one of those two moves off it would've been a small miracle.
It's not like the team coming back for 2009 is a bad one. Other than losing Jamario Moon to the Cavaliers this is exactly the same team that played together last year. Any team anchored by Wade is playoff-bound, and Beasley made some big-time leaps a player towards the end of the season. Cook and Chalmers are turning into serviceable pros as well.
The concerns are last year's signees James Jones and Yakhouba Diawara, who both played well below expectations, as well as Jermaine O'Neal, who averaged a mere 5.4 rebounds per game in 27 games for the HEAT. It doesn't bode well for the team's confidence O'Neal when there's a pressing need to re-sign Jamaal Magloire for another season.
Bottom line is that there's a lot of young talent on this team, and a lot of expiring contracts. And D-Wade. That's not the worst situation in the Eastern Conference by far. Nothing says they still won't find a third team to help Miami get the Boozer thing done before February's trade deadline. In the meantime, the HEAT will win some games and lose some games while they tread water waiting for the summer of 2010. It's then that we should expect them to make the really big splash, and it will all start with extending Wade. From there, just about anything could happen.
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