Bibby Heading East?

Rumors coming out of Miami have the Heat and the Kings discussing a trade to bring Mike Bibby to the Eastern Conference. Bibby would add the steady point guard that the Heat have been searching for.

To make this trade logical for both teams, a handful of other players would need to be included. Here is the trade that would allow the Heat to acquire Bibby:

Sacramento trades Mike Bibby and Kenny Thomas to Miami for Jason Williams, Udonis Haslem, Wayne Simien, Michael Doleac, Dorrell Wright, and a first round pick.

With Bibby being the top talent in ths trade, the Heat would certainly be acquiring the better talent. However, the Kings would see a great deal of cap relief from doing this trade.

2007-08 Salaries
Dorrell Wright $2,040,746
Jason Williams $8,937,500
Michael Doleac $3,120,000
Wayne Simien $997,800
Udonis Haslem $6,050,000 (3 years remaining)

Kenny Thomas $7,875,000 (3 years remaining)
Mike Bibby $13,500,000 (2 years remaining)

In 2007-08, salaries almost match.
In 2008-09, Sacramento saves almost $16,000,000.
In 2009-10, Sacramento saves almost $1,500,000.

Additionally, Haslem is only 27 years old and has a great deal of experience already. Haslem has developed a nice mid-range shot. He shoots especially well from the baseline and has shown a knack for aggressive offensive rebounding. Haslem needs to add some post moves, possibly a jump hook or an improved drop stop. He plays with a great deal of energy, moves his feet well, and plays physical defense. In Sacramento, Haslem and Hawes would be nice building blocks for the Kings rebuilding.

Dorrell Wright has shown some flashes of his potential, but needs more playing time. The Kings would likely consider releasing Michael Doleac and Wayne Simien.

Another possibility for this trade to work would simply be removing the first round pick and including Shareef Abdur-Rahim. However, it is widely believed that Abdur-Rahim is a better player than Thomas and the Kings would certainly try to hang on to him.

By going ahead with this trade, the Kings would be able to gain a great deal of cap flexibility after this season. With potentially Gilbert Arenas, Shawn Marion, and Jermaine O'Neal all becoming free agents the Kings could have the cap room to sign one of these guys. For Miami, Pat Riley would finally land a reliable point guard to play alongside of Wade. Kenny Thomas could step into Haslem's role at the power forward, while only seeing a small dropoff in scoring and rebounding. However, with available spots on the roster after this trade, the Heat would be able to persue an available big man. Melvin Ely, Corliss Williamson, Danny Fortson, and especially P.J. Brown would all fill in nicely here.

With Brown, Thomas, and an additional free agent joining the mix of Wade, Walker, Mourning, Parker, O'Neal, and Hardaway would have a strong enough nine man rotation to compete for the finals. If the Kings go ahead with this trade, it would jump start their rebuilding process with a great deal of roster and cap flexiblity.

Getting the Heat Back to the Top

The Miami Heat, winners of the 2005-06 NBA Championship, struggled throughout last year, ending with a first round loss to the Chicago Bulls in the first round. The Heat only managed to win 44 games during the regular season, and were plagued by injuries from Shaquille O'Neal, Dwyane Wade, and Jason Williams throughout.

So how can the Heat return to the top of the Eastern Conference? Miami is currently taking the first step, by trying to sign Milwaukee Bucks point guard, Mo Williams. Miami can only offer Williams the mid-level exception, which would mean the most he could earn in a five-year deal with the Heat is about $35,000,000. The Bucks, however, could offer substantially more, and are already believed to have made an offer in the $40,000,000 range. However, its believed by many that Williams would take less money to join the Heat in order to have a better shot to win the championship.

The current Bucks point guard, Williams, is 6'1" and only 24 years old. Williams and Wade would make a great backcourt for years to come. In fact, in the 2006-07 season, Williams was one of only seven players who averaged greater than or equal to 17 points per game, 4 rebounds per game, and 6 assists per game. LeBron James, Gilbert Arenas, Tracy McGrady, Chris Paul, Baron Davis, and Dwyane Wade were the others to reach this benchmark.

Williams is a playmaker at the point guard position, who is known as a strong competitor. He has good strength for his size, but must improve defensively. His passing and ball handling could still stand to get better. He has been able to avoid injury for the most part in his career and excels when creating off-the-dribble. Shooting off-the-catch is another spot that Williams could still improve at, but he has had a great work ethic throughout his career. With Wade and Williams in the backcourt together, the Heat would be able to pencil in at least 40 points and 10 assists a night at the guard positions.

Once they acquire Mo Williams, the Heat should turn around and trade Jason Williams. The current Heat guard is in the last year of his contract, which pays him $8,937,500. Charlotte (Walter Herrmann, Jared Dudley), Atlanta (Josh Childress, Shelden Williams), Sacramento (Corliss Williamson, Quincy Douby), Clippers (Tim Thomas), Nuggets (Kenyon Martin, Eduardo Najera), or Cavaliers (Drew Gooden) may all be interested in Miami’s current point guard.

The next move for Heat general manager, Pat Riley, should be to sign free agent guard Steve Francis. Francis is a combo-guard who would be perfect off-the-bench for the Heat. Francis would be able to spell either Mo Williams or Wade and fill in well at either spot. After receiving a $30,000,000 buyout from Portland, Francis would most likely be willing to take a large paycut to have a chance to win his first championship.

With a nucleaus of O'Neal, Wade, Antoine Walker, Udonis Haslem, Alonzo Morning and then adding in Mo Williams, Steve Francis, and the player Riley gets back in return for Jason Williams, the Heat would have a much more successful season next year. Miami also has three young players to develop in power forward, Wayne Simien, shooting guard, Daequan Cook, and small forward, Dorrell Wright. With these series of moves (signing Mo Williams, trading Jason Williams, and signing Steve Francis) the Heat will be a younger squad and should be less injury-prone and ready to make a run next season.