The East's Least Talked About Could Be

You know who I never see or hear people talk about any more? The Miami Heat. Yeah we talked about them after the Jermaine O'Neal-Shawn Marion trade. Sure you see Dwyane Wade putting up monster lines and some unbelievable highlights. But that's it. Michael Beasley, aka the next coming of Glenn Robinson, doesn't get as much hype as other rookies. They won't beat the Celtics/Cavaliers (and it seems likely they won't be in a position to play the Magic) in the playoffs. So what's there to talk about?

Their future. And it's beautiful.

I didn't really hear too much mention of this, or even write about it during the trade column article I did a week back, but the biggest externality of the O'Neal-Marion trade? When Jermaine O'Neal's contract expires. 2010 baby. The motherload.

Before I continue on that thought, let me show you what the Heat have right now in terms of talent to offer:

Dwyane Wade- On everyone's top 5 MVP list. Either All NBA first or second team. The best player on the court in the Summer Olympics.

Michael Beasley-I've already chronicled him as the next Glenn Robinson in this post, but I want to be serious about Beasley for a second. He's only playing 24 minutes per game off the bench. Now think about if he's getting starters' minutes playing alongside DWade. His numbers go up. Plus. He already seems labled as a bust, but how many players in this draft class are guaranteed to be better than Beasley, barring injury? I count two.

Mario Chalmers- Worst case scenario? He's a great defender who can play a little offense and hit an open shot, spreading the floor for Wade.

Udonis Haslem- Throws in a solid jumper, decent rebounding, and good defense. Oh and an NBA championship ring.

That's a 1-4 that could get it done. With the right big man.

That's where Jermaine O'Neal comes in. Or should I say Jermaine O'Neal's Expiring Contract (JOEC). With the JOEC in hand be it this summer, at the beginning of the season, or at the trade deadline, the Heat will be playing the role of buyers. And who will they be buying? Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.

Chris Bosh is an absolute all-star and one of the top 10 big men in the NBA right now. Although the Raptors haven't played the way people thought they would after the Jermaine O'Neal trade, Bosh still deserves his due as a player. He puts up 22.3 and 9.5 as the guy that defenses plan around. That's impressive. On a winning team he would be a borderline MVP candidate.

But there's a problem with Bosh. He's a shooter. Rarely oh rarely do big men who shoot make the NBA finals. Here's the list in the last ten years: Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal, Dirk, Zydrunas Ilguaskas, Kevin Garnett. Sure, it happens. And it's not like you need to eradicate shooting from your arsenal to get there, just ask Tim Duncan. But for Miami it's not the right fit. He, Wade and Beasley would have some difficulty meshing.

The other guy is Amare Stoudemire. We all know Amare has his issues. Poor attitude, worse defender. But during those D'Antoni Suns years, he was putting up numbers that had people talking like he was a top 10 player in the NBA. This season he was struggling, but that makes sense with the offense moving slower and the Suns running more through Shaq than before.

Now think about him as the Heat's big man. Wade is a great passer. He's no Nash, but he gets a lot of assists from the shooting guard position. Chalmers is a good passer as well.

But what makes this great is the same thing that made Amare great with those Suns teams. Everyone else on the floor will be able to shoot, and not just that, but will leave the paint entirely to Amare and Wade. And before you say that the team would struggle defensively, won't it be at least comparable to those Suns defense? And those teams were a championship contender every year. Add in the quality veterans who will be banging down the doors to play in the nicest climate in the NBA once Wade and Amare get their extensions, and this is a team that will compete next year, and continue as an Eastern Conference favorite every year for at least 5 years.

Oh, and did I mention how exciting a team with Amare and Wade would be?

But with this economy, we can only hope. So one time David Stern, make it happen!