I'm just reading what SI's Chris Mannix has to say about the trade from Miami's point of view. And albeit he shares near to exactly the opinions I have uttered in this forum many times, it is really strange to read the words of Mark Blount and capable center in the same sentence, don't you think?

From AP / Yahoo:

\"Minnesota will get a first-round pick from Miami sometime before 2011. The pick is lottery-protected in 2008, protected through the No. 10 selection in 2009, through the No. 6 slot in 2010 and not protected thereafter.\"

sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-timber...rov=ap&type=lgns

With the trade, is it likely that the Heat will make the playoffs this year?

Sanyarin wrote:

You summed it up perfectly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

UnderdogDifficult to judge. Depends on health, I guess. They barely sneaked into the playoffs in the awful east last year with Wade visibly hampered by his shoulder, only to be crushed by the Bulls. And many other teams who missed the playoffs last year, have rearmed (i.g.: Magic, Celtics), others have retained a capable roster that was crusehd by injuries last year (i.g. Milwaukee) while the Heat have lost valuebale rotation players in Kapono and Posey. The addition of Davis will help to some degree adress Miamis lack of athleticism and the need for a third scoring option, but if Wade did not come back fully healed and especially if Shaq, who is a year older again, did not bring everithing his body is still capable of, the Heat are in deep trouble. They are more defensively vulnerable than ever, and neither Shaq nor Mounring still have the legs to cover for all the defensive lapses of their teammates.

It is really difficult to judge because so much depends on what Shaq has left in his body and how Wade come back from his injury, so the brain says, that - barring more injuries to other teams - they just don't have enough to beat out all the other teams that are in the playoff hunt...but somehow the stomach just does not want to rule out any team that has Shaq.

7sixes wrote:
PLEASE clarify what this means. It resembles his probable ACT score breakdowns but I doubt that is what you are conveying...

So....On Miami's Realgm board many people seem to think Blount is a quality defender and a tenacious rebounder. I pity the fool that thinks Blount = tough.

In all reality this is a fine trade for both teams. Ricky is obviously an upgrade at SF for Miami. Blount....Don't know. Depends.

For us. We know this helps us greatly for cap reasons. We know it helps us so we can play the young kids. A win/win. Most importantly, McHale ventured away from the Celtics. Although he'll probably buy out Toine so he can go back to Boston.

Like most of you, I really like this trade. It just clears out so much baggage and gets us a draft pick. Who knows how Miami will do? With Shaq on the D-cline, and Wade injured, we may be rolling over that pick until it nets us something good. We know firsthand that Ricky D isn't going to do squat in improving a team's record.

One thing I hope we don't do is buy out Walker. I'd much rather see us buy out players with lesser contracts. Remember the recipe for a blockbuster deal. Young players (check), draft picks (check) and expiring contracts. With Theo due this year, and Howard AND Walker due next season, we are abosolutely primed for a big trade. I'd part with Simien in order to give us an chance at doing something really big down the road. Who knows what big name is going to demand a trade next. For all we know, those expiring deals could be a Michael Redd or an Arenas, or whoever. You just never know. Who thought the KG trade would go down the way it did.

I'm glad the Wolves are giving the younger guys an opportunity to play more. Blount doesn't do much but shot midrange jumpers and Davis will just take minutes and shots away from the younger guys.

Hopefully all these draft picks and money we will have in the future will be put to good use.

This trade is great for Miami. They basically lost a low draft pick and a guy the coach hates, and got a legitimate 3rd cog and a big guy that can put up 13 ppg. They are in win now mode with Shaq on the downswing, so how can this be a bad deal for them? It's not.

For us? Well my inital reaction was dismay, cuz I personally enjoy watching Ricky & all of his antics, and now the most entertaining Wolf is gone. But what else is new, my fav 3 Wolves already got traded this off-season (KG, JReed, Trenton), so why not trade my 4th? Blount is a d-bag, so its cool that he is gone. Although he will probably help Miami. Remember the 1st half of last season? He was great.

Well, one thing is for certain, we are gonna EAT this year. If you didn't already think so, you must think so now. Yuck. I take back my 24 win prediction and change it to 21. WHO is gonna SCORE on this team??? SERIOUSLY???? wow.

BonK wrote:

Just like WhiskeyDizzy's Regression Analysis Article predicted!

Cha-Ching!!!