NBA ROCK

Hard to believe that 2 seasons ago the Miami Heat were world champs, isn’t it? Fast forward 2 seasons later and they’ve claimed the worst record in the NBA. You can debate it either way, but I’m going to say that trading Shaq away for Shawn Marion was a good move for the Heat. Marion is, after all, putting up better numbers for the Heat than he did Phoenix. This is understandable since the Heat doesn’t have the star power that the Suns have.

I think we’re going to see the Heat making some moves for the long-term. I think we’re going to see said moves happen sooner rather than later. I say this because Dwayne Wade can opt out of his contract after the 2009-2010 season. This gives the Miami Heat 2 years to put key players in place around Dwayne Wade. If Pat Riley has anything to do with putting players in place, I’ll put money on him bringing in a center. It’s his style — a center-oriented offense. On paper it sounds great, too; your star center gets doubled and he kicks it out to an open man resulting in a nothing but net splash. Don’t be surprised if Riley pursues Eddy Curry. Otherwise, it’s slim-pickings for Pat Riley and his power-in-the-post mentality:

• Emeka Okafor (restricted free agent)
• Jamaal Magloire (unrestricted free agent)

Maybe 2008 won’t the year the Heat find a new big man via free agency. All the more reason to expect a trade to swing Eddy Curry Miami’s way. It wouldn’t be a bad deal for the Knicks, either. A 17-39 record paired with a salary cap nightmare = time to rebuild.

Now that Jason Kidd has departed from New Jersey, can anyone really expect the Nets to make a serious push in the playoffs this year? Like I mentioned earlier, this is a long-term trade for the Nets. We aren’t going to see the Nets make any big pushes till they get a few more key acquisitions and/or their current potential develops (i. e. Devin Harris). This brings me to my point: Vince Carter. Vince Carter isn’t as young as he used to be, at 31 years of age, and he’s going to be hungry for a ring before his career is over (granted that he isn’t already). Is it possible that Carter is going to be the next Net to request a trade out of New Jersey? I wouldn’t put it past him. Especially since there may be something brewing as we speak. Here’s the jist of the rumor:

Miami gets:

• Eddy Curry

Nets get:

• Jason Williams
• Ricky Davis

Knicks get:

• Vince Carter

Now this is a trade, people. This is a sweet trade, albeit a rumored trade. The Nets will get Jason Williams and Ricky Davis, who both have expiring contracts. This means the Nets are going to have some extra money to spend after their contracts expire, and the Nets will be hitting the free agent market hard to find the future of their franchise.

The Knicks, already way over the salary cap, would be getting Vince Carter. My question is: how will Carter fit into the Knicks’ lineup and budget? My best guess is that he’d slide in at the 3-spot and Richardson would hit the bench, which would give you:

• PG: Marbury
• SG: Crawford
• SF: Carter
• PF: Randolph
• C: Morris

Maybe this would give the Knicks a little boost since the Curry + Randolph combo wasn’t working out for them. Personally, I think they need to flat-out rebuild, especially given their current financial situation.

The Miami-end of this potential deal is my favorite. It’s my favorite because they’d be getting Eddy Curry, who (hopefully for the Heat) would make an acceptable Shaq replacement. It’s also the Miami Heat style to have a dominant guy playing the center position.

I’m pulling for this one, folks.