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What Role Will Michael Beasley Fill for Miami Heat?


Michael Beasley

Jennifer Stewart- USA Today Sports

Over the last few seasons, the Miami Heat‘s frontcourt has been an area of weakness. So much so, that teams are stacking their rosters with larger players to combat the defending champs. Even after winning their second-consecutive title, the Heat organization realized that in order to win a third-straight championship, size would have to be added to the roster. The Heat may claim that other teams don’t dictate their style of play, but the moves the organization made this offseason say otherwise.

The Heat started by signing Greg Oden on Aug. 7 to backup both Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen at the center position. Management’s next significant move came when they offered Michael Beasley a non-guaranteed one-year contract. Beasley will have to beat out several other players during the preseason in order to make the final 15-man roster, which shouldn’t be a problem considering his talent level.

The signing of Beasley is directly related to the Heat’s frontcourt issues. Even with all of Beasley’s past transgressions, this organization is so determined to shore up their frontcourt, they are willing to take a risk on a player with tons of issues. Even with his offensive numbers on the decline, Beasley can still provide an offensive spark that can be very valuable for the second unit. If Beasley were to average 25-30 minutes a game, you would be looking at a player averaging 14-16 point per game. This would be a huge boost for the second unit, considering their highest-scoring player off the bench, Ray Allen, only averaged 10.9 points per game last season.

Beasley will have to earn his minutes from Erik Spoelstra. Trust is and always will be an issue with Beasley. It will also be difficult to hide Beasley’s defensive deficiencies on the court. He will most likely be paired with defensive wing players, like LeBron James and/or Shane Battier to help balance to floor. Beasley’s minutes will be limited initially, but once he gets into a groove, and earns Spoelstra’s trust, he will be a solid offensive addition to the Heat roster. Beasley is young, and can still be molded into the player everyone knows he is capable of being. The Heat are just the organization to do that.

 

Jared Doyle is a Miami Heat writer for www.RantSports.comFollow him on Twitter @outofboundsjay, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.


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