The Heat have reached out to the Clippers to gauge their willingness to trade Jamal Crawford, a league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, with the idea that he would provide depth and injury insurance behind Dwyane Wade. Still, a Clippers official who spoke with Haynes insists that the team is not shopping Crawford. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier that the Cavs have explored trading Brendan Haywood for Crawford and others, advancing an earlier report from The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto of rumors linking Cleveland to Crawford.
Cleveland would be able to offer superior cap flexibility in return with Haywood’s sizable non-guaranteed deal, though Miami could offer direct roster relief to the Clippers as they reel from DeAndre Jordan‘s departure. Heat president Pat Riley has denied that he’s looking to trade Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers, though those names keep coming up. The Clippers would probably focus on someone who could provide more production, so perhaps they’d ask for Josh McRoberts, though that’s just my speculation.
Crawford is due $5.675MM this coming season, making him still a relative bargain even coming off his fewest minutes per game since the 2002/03 season. The 35-year-old’s salary became fully guaranteed when the Clippers elected not to waive him before last week’s contract guarantee date. The Clippers were apparently exploring the idea of trading him, if not shopping him, before the draft, with one report linking him to the Nuggets.
This actually makes sense.. a lot more than the cavs anyway. Birdman or McRoberts for Crawford fills holes on both teams and allows Miami to bring in Carlos Boozer on the minimum. This is how deals are supposed to work.
Why do you want carlos boozer anywhere near our roster?
because someone who can average 10-10 off the bench is not something you find under a rock. He might suck on D (so did Antoine Walker when they brought him in) but offense and rebounding off the bench is a huge need for any team. Oh and btw.. unless your a season ticket holder or work for the Heat.. its not “our” lol
I’m a heat fan, so I obviously use that word a lot…
There are far better options than boozer, especially for how we’re trying to play
ok.. so if they move bird or mcroberts.. who fills that void? Who’s better than Boozer for that role?
I’d even accept Khem Birch over him. There are a multitude of options better than boozer for this roster
You’re losing me man. Boozer is a proven All-Star with huge Miami ties that actually wants to be here. I don’t even know if Birch has ever even played an NBA game… has he? You don’t fill your bench with rookies and scrubs if you plan to contend.. you fill it with proven talent and ability. The heat gave up Patrick Beverly for Eddie House, the gave up Garret Temple for Carlos Arroyo.. if you want to win, you do things like that.
and we lost because they gave up Beverly…Birch was just one suggestion off the top of my head. There are others as well, obviously. I’m literally walking down the street while responding lol, so its not so easy to remember the options I have thought of previously…
Boozer is a slow post player that doesnt defend. He doesnt shoot the 3, though he has a decent mid range game. We already have Bosh, Whiteside, Haslem, asssuming McRoberts and Birdman are gone, at the 4/5 spots. Boozer is a massive downgrade from Birdman and it isnt even close. Off the bench in that spot, we need an athlete that can get up and down the court, defend the pick and roll at least decently, protect the rim, and catch and finish at the basket. All of these are things Birdman does. If he is gone, we still need to replace that. We dont need Boozer coming off the bench. We’re trying to play with pace, and spread the floor
They gave up Beverely as the last cut in camp back in 2011 I believe… went on to win 4 straight East titles and 2 NBA titles.. I wouldn’t exactly call that “lost” my man.
We lost that season….thats what I was referring to…JJ Barea destroyed us in the finals b/c we couldnt defend quick PGs. That was the whole reason we drafted Norris Cole
We lost those finals because LeBron James shot 25% in the 4th Quarter… even he admits that today. LeBron changed as a person after that series.. if it were replayed today the Heat would probably sweep the Mavs.
That was obviously part of it. The Heat just started isolating on literally every play. Still, we got torched by JJ Barea, and even Jason Terry b/c we couldnt defend that position
you could do a lot worse than Boozer for the minimum and 15 minutes a night. He can be a rotation player on a playoff caliber team.
I agree with your earlier point on Tyler Johnson. Solid, young player. Doesn’t possess the upside that some other prospects his age have, which is why I think he wasn’t picked up by another franchise when he was let go by the Heat earlier. Still, he should get some minutes for Miami
Thank you Pat….we need this guy…for when I get hurt….during the season…..
Heat need shooting, but we need a wing player. It would be the case of adding a guy that has notoriously destroyed us consistently over the years…I would suggest seeing if phoenix would be interested in moving PJ tucker. We could trade any or all of McRoberts, Chalmers, Birdman, and Napier this offseason. We have cheaper alternatives, and could either get the wing player we need in a deal, or use whatever space that gives us to sign a free agent wing, if possible
Unless Ennis goes in the deal… the Heat have Deng, Winslow, Ennis at the 3. They need a 2g that could even fill in at pg at times (Ray Allen would be perfect in this role if they can’t get crawford). A guy that average 15 off the bench is a huge need for anyone.
I guess I’m higher on Tyler Johnson than others as a combo guard in some m9nutes off the bench. Also Zoran Dragic can be used as a combo guard too. I like Ennis, and winslow is obviously a great get, but are we relying on Ennis and Winslow to be super productive right now? That’s why we need a 2/3 that can shoot, and defend at least usefully
Jamal Crawford is still a very good player, but he needs the ball in his hands. I just don’t see that as a fit for this particular heat team
I’m not high on Tyler Johnson.. he’s PER isn’t great and I think he’s going to be Dellavadova esk at best. Johnson is an awesome 15th man.. not much more than that to me though. As for Crawford.. he’s a 2 time 6th man of the year playing with Chris Paul… you aren’t seriously trying to tarnish his ability are you?
I never insinuated that Crawford isnt a very good player ,even at this point in his career. I simply said he doesnt fit our team. Defensively, that is an issue, and as I said, he is a ball stopper.
I guess I’m much higher on Tyler Johnson than you are then. I think he is easily better than Chalmers already. He actually reminds me a little of Goran Dragic in some ways, and he is a legit athlete
You just said that an undrafted rookie currently playing in the summer league is better than a 2 time NBA champion starting PG… come on man. Chalmers best ability is on D.. let alone his 10-5 nightly numbers on reduced minutes.
Tyler Johnson can defend, and he is better on the ball than Chalmers is. He can also finish at the rim at a high rate, and he shoots the 3 very well. He also plays above the rim, whereas Rio doesnt. I’ve always been more of a fan of Chalmers than most people, but I would have to argue that Tyler Johnson at least has the ability to be better than him, and we just need to see it more consistently, which could come with more opportunity. Maybe I shouldnt have said he is easily better than him already, but I wouldnt be surprised at all if he is
You are aware the Heat waived him and re signed him because no one else wanted him last year right? You are arguing that, that guy is already better than the Heat’ starting PG from 08-15. This isn’t Hassan Whiteside finally getting his shot… Johnson is a skilled back of the bench guy. You have to accept that. I’d love to be proven wrong, but I doubt it.
BTW… the fact that he’s on the Summer League roster with James Ennis, while Shabazz Napier and Whiteside are sitting back in Miami working with the starter’s should tell you a lot as well.
Napier is injured, but he is on the summer league team…Whteside is practicing with the summer league squad…Teams let their young players play summer league, so there isnt much note to that. It gives him game action, and allows him to continue to play in our system and continue to develop. The Heat are very high on Tyler Johnson, based on things they’ve said since last season. They stashed him in the D-League, hoping nobody would claim him when they were forced to move him off the opening night roster. Nobody claimed him b/c they didnt have the same info the Heat had on him at that particular time. There wasnt much of a scouting report on him, which explains why guys are still surprised when he rises up for a dunk
Also, Rio was not the starter for that length of time…He came off the bench for the entirety of LeBron’s first year here (he also lost his spot in the rotation a couple of times), and he came off the bench for most of last season. Like I said, I always liked Rio more than most, but he still has his moments with poor decision making, and just careless turnovers. He isnt as good of an on ball defender as he was his first couple of years in the league, though he still gets in passing lanes and gets steals. Last season, he couldnt shoot the 3 to save his life. Obviously, uncharacteristic of his performance before, but it was still the case. All I’m really saying is that he is making $4 million, and Tyler Johnson is making a partially guaranteed league minimum. I just think we could at least get comparable production there
I dont see why my response is awaiting moderation…I didnt say anything wrong…Ugh, it was a thorough response too. I’m not retyping it…
Maybe it will eventually load my response, but there were a couple of articles with some info on the reasons why Tyler Johnson, Zoran Dragic, and the rest are on this summer league team b/c they didnt get much time on the floor last season, and they get more experience in their system, as well as giving the organization more of a chance to actually evaluate, and they’re pretty high on some of these guys, specifically mentioning Tyler Johnson