Miami Heat Should Land Stoudemire as a Free Agent

It wouldn't be an easy offer to turn down. It would, after all, be consistent with all the other major moves Pat Riley has made, falling in line with his philosophy of winning as much as you can in the present while forgetting the future.

But it would simply be an act of impatience from an organization that has targeted the summer of 2010 as the point when it will officially rebuild a champion.

Giving up Beasley in exchange for Stoudemire now would essentially say the Heat believes that duo is enough to infiltrate the elite of the league either this year or next. And that's just not the case. Those two alone wouldn't be enough to match the depth of the Cavaliers, the dynamic inside-out game of the Magic or the often-suffocating defense of the Celtics.

If the Heat can go ahead with another move for Marion and set itself up for the free agent shopping spree of 2010, it could still sign a Stoudemire or a Chris Bosh without having to lose Beasley.

Just by waiting another year and a half, the Heat gives itself the opportunity to develop the type of depth that the Lakers have used to climb to the top of the league. It would allow the Heat to see exactly how much better Beasley, who turned 20 last month, can be with some experience and real playing time (not the sporadic handful of minutes he sees now). It would set up the franchise for the long-term so it can be a consistent contender like the Spurs rather than a pieced-together one-hit wonder like Miami a few years ago.

The fear, of course, would be the uncertainty of free agency. If Bosh and Stoudemire, which would presumably be the Heat's top two targets, choose to sign elsewhere, the Heat's plan would appear to have failed miserably.

PLACE TO BE

But it should be easy for the Heat to convince itself it's a desirable destination. There's the lure of playing with Dwyane Wade, of living in Miami, of avoiding a state income tax and of a franchise that is among the most respected in the league. And if that still fails to land one of the two attractive big men, there will be several other options in that free agent class, including Joe Johnson, Josh Howard and possibly Dirk Nowitzki and Yao Ming.

The possibilities are far too numerous for the Heat to pull this particular trigger right now and give up on a potential cornerstone in Beasley.

And that's really what this debate boils down to. Will Beasley be a consistent 20-point, 10-rebound player who will be a matchup nightmare for the next 15 years? Or will he be little more than he is now, a streaky but inconsistent scorer with no concept of the defense?

Beasley didn't offer much of an argument for himself Sunday, managing just four points in 13 minutes despite being guarded by DeSagana Diop and someone named Alexis Ajinca for most of his time of the floor.

There's more there. It's impossible to measure just how large of an adjustment it is for Beasley to go from main collegiate attraction to occasional NBA sideshow. But the gifts are there. And giving him up for Stoudemire right now would be giving up that gift far too soon. Especially when they could play together 20 months from now. Source: The Miami Herald