FanNation

(OJ Mayo vs. Micheal Beasley)

Many people have been speculating whether or not the Heat would eventually draft Michael Beasley, and now that the Heat don't seem very interested about selecting Michael Beasley at No. 2, there are many trade rumors heading into tomorrow evening. Pat Riley desperately wants a point guard to team up with Dwayne Wade in the backcourt. Pat Riley doesn't seem comfortable with Beasley's character and personality.


Sources have stated that Miami has worked out with USC's combo guard OJ Mayo, along with Arizona's Jerryd Bayless. OJ Mayo is probably the main player in contention to be selected by the Heat at No. 2. The Heat really want a guard, ecspecially after they were informed that Shawn Marion would not opt out of his contract.


I don't know if Pat Riley is crazy, but Michael Beasley is the only other franchise player in this draft other than Derrick Rose. He acctually thinks Bayless and Mayo are speciall talents. According to close sources, Jerryd Bayless had a amazing workout, but overall, I don't really care. Beasley is the ovious selection. They have even made comparisons about Jerryd Bayless being the next Chauncey Billups. Again, the insane Miami Heat thought OJ Mayo was great and that he will be the next Gilbert Arenas type of point guard.


I have three different solutions to this trade talks:
#1: The Heat just want teams to offer better trade offers for the No. 2 pick in the draft and they don't think they need a player like Michael Beasley.
#2: They really believe that somewhere in the future, Bayless and Mayo will be great point guards.
#3: The Heat hope they will land Utah's Carlos Boozer in free agency next year. Boozer acctually owns a home in the Miami area.

According to the different ESPN analysts, (Chad Ford, Andy Katz, and Bill Simmons), here are the 4 teams are most active in the Michael Beasley sweepstakes.

Minnesota Timberwolves:
The Timberwolves would be extremely fortunate if Michael Beasley falls to them at No. 3. With the selection of Beasley, they could eventually go small and have Al Jefferson at the 5 and Michael Beasley at the 4. But unfortunately for the T'Wolves, the possibility of Beasley slipping is very unlikely, so now the Wovles need to pull a trade for this to work out.

A possible trade that could work out would be Minnesota sending the the Heat's 2009 first-round pick, which they currently hold, along with Corey Brewer, last year's lottery pick, for Michael Beasley. But I highly doubt Miami would pull the trigger on this.

Seattle SuperSonics:
If Seattle could send a solid package of players and picks to Miami for Beasley, then two best friends, Micheal Beasley and Kevin Durant would reunite. In my mind, Beasley and Durant would be a perfect compliment for each other.

A deal that could work out here would be Seattle sending Chris Wilcox (solid player with an expiring contract), Johan Petro (young talent, but seems like a bust), and the No. 4 pick to Miami for the No. 2 pick and Mark Blount, who holds a very big contract. Miami, on the other hand, would love to have Jeff Green instead of Wilcox and Petro. However, if this deal were to work out, Miami would be saving some earnest money.

Los Angeles Clippers:
This is probably the best trade in Miami's standpoint because they would receive a great big man in Elton Brand along with the No. 7 pick, were Jerryd Bayless could still be available, in the exchange for Shawn Marion and the No. 2 pick.

Although the Clippers really like the idea of Shawn Marion and Michael Beasley playing together, the drafting of OJ Mayo at No. 2 for the Clippers wouldn't be a surprise either. This trade would stop the Heat's interest in Carlos Boozer next offseason as well. A trade that I thought would work well for Miami is send Udonis Haslem, Jason Williams, and their 2nd round pick next season to Millwaukee for Mo Williams and the No. 37 pick.

Memphis Grizzlies:
This team makes the most sense out of all the teams in contention, and ever since the Grizzlies traded away their star, Pau Gasol, they have had a big hole to fill in the PF position. At this point, the Grizzlies are willing to trade away any of their players except for Rudy Gay. They see Gay and Beasley being a very impressive pair of players to team up with. I would love to pull this trade off if I were the Grizzlies. You have Conley (possibly), Beasley, and Gay in the future to work with.

There are a numorous number of deals the Grizzlies can make to entrice the Heat. One deal would include the No. 5 selection, Mike Miller and Kyle Lowry. But if the Heat aren't necessarily interest, the Grizzlies would just swap Mike Conley with Kyle Lowry. The Grizzlies can afford to lose Conley because of their extreme depth at the point guard position. After this, the Heat can go with either Kevin Love or Brook Lopez at the No. 5 spot.

Overall, I believe the Heat should either go with the Memphis trade, which makes them more versitale, the Clipper trade, which gives them a big man down low in Elton Brand, or, they just stick with what they have and select Micheal Beasley tomorrow night.