ESPN'S Mock Draft Nailed the Patrick Beverly Pick

Last week I posted that ESPN had stated that the Miami Heat were very impressed with Patrick Beverly's workout and were looking to take him with their first 2nd round pick. Here we are the day after the draft and Patrick Beverly is property of the Heat. It did not quite happen how it was predicted, but they Heat were able to turn their pick, LSU guard Marcus Thorton, into two future 2nd rounders by trading him to the New Orleans Hornets. They then were able to trade one of those future 2nd rounders to the Los Angeles Lakers for Patrick Beverly who was picked one spot ahead of their pick. All in all, the Heat ended up with the guy that they wanted all along plus an extra 2nd round pick in next years draft. I would say that is a great move on Pat Riley's part, and one that is not really being mentioned much today.
What did the Heat get in Patrick Beverly? Possibly a Mario Chalmers clone. The guy is a super athlete who might be more of a combo guard than a traditional point guard. He started his career at Arkansas, but ended up leaving to play in the Ukraine last year. Through it all, he has shown the ability to score in bunches, whether it is attacking the hoop or shooting from the outside. He was a monster at Eurocamp, consistently filling up all aspects of the stat sheet. His athleticism and hustle have Riley believing that he can become as close to a defensive stopper as you can have at the point guard spot. Last season was a nightmare when Chalmers was out of the game so Beverly and perhaps another veteran will be brought in to shore up that spot.
Beverly is far from a finished product, but he has shown enough potential that the Heat's staff believing that they might have gotten a steal in the 2nd round.

• With the final pick of the draft, the Heat picked Robert Dozier out of the University of Memphis. Dozier showed off some skills while there, but never fully put the entire package together. He will most likely be sent to Europe for seasoning, with hopes that he can return in a year or two and provide the Heat with a versatile and big wing player.
  

Patrick Beverly To The Heat With Pick #43 In ESPN'S Mock Draft

The Heat were impressed with his workout and could use another athletic combo guard in the backcourt, especially someone who defends as well as Beverley does.

CHAD FORD, ESPN

Michael Beasley Goes Back To Work

Michael Wallace of the Miami Herald with our Michael Beasley fix:

Beasley appears to be adjusting well to the initial stages of his conversion from power forward to small forward. The team plans to continue to play him at both positions, which is why Beasley is being strongly encouraged to put on about 10 pounds this offseason. He will add the weight yet improve his quickness and versatility. He also won't have a shortage of motivation. Beasley will likely find himself on the outside looking in when it comes to a spot at the USA training camp. The team will bring together 24 of the top first, second or third-year players to form a pseudo pipeline for future USA national teams. Judging by the names that have emerged, it looks like USA basketball went out of its way to pick around Beasley.

Last we heard of Beasley, he was working on guard drills to adjust to the life of a small forward, and now we hear he is bulking up to play some power forward as well. Looks like the Heat is trying develop Beasley into a combo forward who is able to attack opposing defenses any way he wants, much in the same way that Antwan Jamison does for the Washington Wizards. Is Beasley a power forward or small forward and does it even matter? All we can ask for is that Beasley just continues to work hard on his overall game. Beasley has the potential to be an All Star in this league and it could happen as soon as he wants it to.

NBA DRAFT: Workout Update

Miami Hurricane guard Jack McClinton led a group of possible draft picks that the Miami Heat brought in to work out. The Heat have the 43rd and 60th pick in the draft and are bringing in players who might fall in that range. Other players in the workout were Connecticut point guard AJ Price, UCLA forward Alfred Aboya and LSU forward Chris Johnson. McLinton is the biggest name of the group and there are doubts that he would even last until the Heat's first pick. If he is there when the Heat does pick, would he be a good fit or is he a copy of Daquan Cook? One thing we do know, is that the Magic made it to the finals by surrounding Dwight Howard with nothing but shooters. The Heat could do worse than drafting players to put around Dwayne Wade that can score the ball. Too often the team seemed stagnant when the ball was out of Wade's hands, McClinton could help fix that issue.

FLASHBACK: HEAT - KNICKS 1997 The Fight That Started It All

Highlights from the 1997 NBA Playoff Series between the HEAT and the KNICKS. The HEAT won the series 4-3, but it will always be remembered for the fighting between the two teams most notably when Charlie Ward got flipped by PJ Brown.

Glen Rice: Miami Heat's 1st Superstar

Michael Beasley Shifting To SF?

Michael Beasley began serious offseason workouts Monday, starting a long process in which Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will determine if he is suited to playing a lot at small forward. Besides needing to improve his defense for that position, ''he must improve his passing,'' ABC's Jeff Van Gundy said off the air.

Miami Herald

A Case For Hedo Turkoglu to the Heat

With Hedo Turkoglu making his case as the best player hitting free agency this summer, it begs the question, would the Orlando Magic actually let him walk in free agency? All season long the Magic has lived and died by shooting the three, and it got them all the way to the finals. However, those looks would not be there without the interior game of Dwight Howard. Howard has been a one man wrecking crew in the interior all year, but it appears that he has met his match in the front line of the Lakers. It has become clearer and clearer throughout the finals that Howard's post game needs a lot of work this summer. Send him to big man camp with Patrick Ewing and figure out a way to get the guy some moves.
One guy who already has all the moves is Turkoglu. The guy has showed throughout the season and the playoffs that he has the ability to create off the dribble and/or hit the spot up jumper. He has been their go to guy, their clutch ball handler, and their go to defender down the stretch the other night. It is this versatility that makes him a matchup nightmare for opposing squads, so why in the world would they let him go? Rashard Lewis, is the other forward in the lineup, and he is another player suited small forward. Lewis is a sweet shooting athlete who shies away from banging inside, which has not been an issue till the finals. The Magic are getting killed inside, cause there is no help for Howard. Would they be better served having Lewis on the perimeter and a true power forward next to Howard?
If that is the case, Riley needs to get on the horn and see about working a sign and trade deal giving up Udonis Haslem and change for Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu is 30 years old and started hitting his prime over the last 2 seasons. His versatile game would match up perfectly with Dwayne Wade, allowing the Heat with more opportunities to play Wade off of the ball and keep defenses honest, by giving the team another scorer. A frontcourt of Jermaine O'Neal, Michael Beasley, and Hedo Turkoglu looks great to me.
Will the Magic look at this seasons finals and realize that what they were missing was more help inside for Howard, or will they be content with the frontcourt that got them to the finals? If it comes down to a lack of size, then Riley needs to do his best to sign Turkoglu as a free agent or work a sign and trade deal for some more money, cause he would be a great addition to this lineup.

2009 FREE AGENTS...Whose on your wishlist?

2009 FREE AGENT CLASS:

	Key: ETO = Early Termination Option; P = Player Option; T = Team Option
Atlanta	RESTRICTED Thomas Gardner Othello Hunter Mario West Josh Childress Solomon Jones Marvin Williams UNRESTRICTED Zaza Pachulia Mike Bibby Ronald Murray
Boston	RESTRICTED Glen Davis Leon Powe UNRESTRICTED Eddie House (P) Stephon Marbury Mikki Moore
Charlotte	RESTRICTED Raymond Felton Cartier Martin Sean May Sean Singletary (T) UNRESTRICTED Juwan Howard
Chicago	RESTRICTED Aaron Gray UNRESTRICTED Ben Gordon Lindsey Hunter Jerome James (P)
Cleveland	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Zydrunas Ilgauskas (ETO) Joe Smith Wally Szczerbiak Anderson Varejao (P) Lorenzen Wright
Dallas	RESTRICTED Ryan Hollins UNRESTRICTED Brandon Bass Devean George (P) Gerald Green Jason Kidd James Singleton
Denver	RESTRICTED Linas Kleiza Johan Petro UNRESTRICTED Chris Andersen Anthony Carter Jason Hart Steven Hunter (ETO) Dahntay Jones
Detroit	RESTRICTED Walter Herrmann UNRESTRICTED Kwame Brown (P) Allen Iverson Antonio McDyess Rasheed Wallace
Golden State	RESTRICTED Rob Kurz C.J. Watson UNRESTRICTED Jamal Crawford (ETO)
Houston	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Ron Artest Brian Cook (P) Dikembe Mutombo Von Wafer
Indiana	RESTRICTED Jarrett Jack Josh McRoberts UNRESTRICTED Maceo Baston Marquis Daniels (T) Travis Diener (P) Stephen Graham Rasho Nesterovic
L.A. Clippers	RESTRICTED Alex Acker (T) Steve Novak UNRESTRICTED Ricky Davis (P) Fred Jones Brian Skinner (P)
L.A. Lakers	RESTRICTED Shannon Brown UNRESTRICTED Trevor Ariza Kobe Bryant (ETO) Lamar Odom
Memphis	RESTRICTED Juan Carlos Navarro Hakim Warrick UNRESTRICTED Chris Mihm Quinton Ross Mike Wilks
Miami	RESTRICTED Joel Anthony Yakhouba Diawara (P) Jamario Moon Chris Quinn (P) UNRESTRICTED Mark Blount (ETO) Luther Head Jamaal Magloire Jermaine O'Neal (P)
Milwaukee	RESTRICTED Ersan Ilyasova Ramon Sessions Charlie Villanueva UNRESTRICTED Malik Allen (P) Keith Bogans Francisco Elson (P) Damon Jones
Minnesota	RESTRICTED Bobby Brown (P) UNRESTRICTED Rodney Carney Jason Collins Kevin Ollie Shelden Williams
New Jersey	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Maurice Ager Trenton Hassell (ETO) Jarvis Hayes (T)
New Orleans	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Ryan Bowen Melvin Ely Sean Marks
New York	RESTRICTED David Lee Nate Robinson UNRESTRICTED Eddy Curry (ETO) Al Harrington (P) Quentin Richardson (ETO) Chris Wilcox
Oklahoma City	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Damien Wilkins (ETO) Desmond Mason Malik Rose Robert Swift
Orlando	RESTRICTED Marcin Gortat Jeremy Richardson UNRESTRICTED Adonal Foyle Anthony Johnson (P) Tyronn Lue Hedo Turkoglu (ETO)
Philadelphia	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Royal Ivey (P) Donyell Marshall Andre Miller Theo Ratliff Kareem Rush
Phoenix	RESTRICTED Louis Amundson (T) UNRESTRICTED Matt Barnes Grant Hill Stromile Swift
Portland	RESTRICTED Channing Frye UNRESTRICTED Raef LaFrentz Shavlik Randolph Michael Ruffin
Sacramento	RESTRICTED Ike Diogu Rashad McCants UNRESTRICTED Calvin Booth Bobby Jackson Cedric Simmons
San Antonio	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Michael Finley (P) Drew Gooden Ime Udoka Jacque Vaughn
Toronto	RESTRICTED Carlos Delfino Joey Graham UNRESTRICTED Shawn Marion Anthony Parker Jake Voskuhl
Utah	RESTRICTED Paul Millsap Kyrylo Fesenko (T) UNRESTRICTED Morris Almond Carlos Boozer (P) Jarron Collins Brevin Knight Kyle Korver (ETO) Mehmet Okur (ETO) Ronnie Price
Washington	RESTRICTED None UNRESTRICTED Juan Dixon Etan Thomas (ETO)