Offseason Moves Series: Center

Welcome to part 1 of my Offseason Moves series! In this edition, I am going to take a look at the center position and see what types of moves would be most feasible for the Miami Heat. The biggest issue here (along with most of the other positions) is age. What can the team do to deal with their senior citizen problems at center? Should we take a center in the draft? Deal for a middle aged veteran? Sign a talented but unproven rookie? I will try to answer these questions here.

Current Status

Shaq. Enough said; for now. We have a super star at this position, and for the next year or two, that should be enough. Shaq’s stats may be significantly down, but if there was a stat that measured how much attention a defense devotes to a single player, his would be through the roof. One on one, he can still score against any center in the league; even with the recent wave of flopping he has had to face (I never thought I would see the day that Ben Wallace would wimp out and flop). Teams have to bring the double and that opens up other players for jumpers and drives. However, looking to the future, the team is not very deep. Alonzo Mourning is most likely going to retire soon if not within a couple of months. Then there is Michael Doleac, who for a big guy has a pretty nice jumper, but is no Dirk Nowitzki. At the end of the bench is Earl Barron, and even though he is still fairly young at 25, he probably won’t ever be starter material.

The Draft

I have read other articles on other NBA sites that proclaim that the Heat should take a center in the draft with one of their 2 picks. I say, no freaking way! You certainly are not going to be able to pick the next Shaq that late in the draft; at best you will be able to get someone who will develop into a solid big-man in 3-4 years. It would just be a waste of time and a pick.

Trades

Now here is where you can pick up a decent center. All the Heat need is a solid proven player who can back Shaq up for a couple of years. My ideal scenario would be to find a defensive specialist, similar to the role that Alonzo Mourning played last year. Perhaps someone like Dallas’ DeSagana Diop would serve that spot well.

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