I was an early supporter of Beasley. I was glad that they drafted him and was not happy about how the Heat utilized him last year. While, as one blogger pointed out, it may be too early to call Beasley a bust, there are several serious concerns that even the most ardent of the Beasley supporters must recognize. He seems to be too small to play power forward and too slow to play small forward. When he was first drafted, much was made of his wingspan. The reality is, however, that he needs at least 2 more inches to play power forward. While his defense has improved over last year, it still is sorely lacking. You constantly see him falling asleep as his man cuts to the basket or picking up the wrong player on the fast break. He does have a sweet shot and great moves around the basket, but still he cannot consistently hit wide open shots or get his shot off against bigger defenders. While he is still young and will hopefully continue to improve, you have to be completely blind not to at least consider that he may not be all he was cracked up to be.

Final confirmation that the whole Beasley drama was much to do about basically nothing.

Lebron may be the best player on the planet but that doesn't mean he will be winning championships anytime soon. He is an egomaniac and may have a great deal of difficulty finding other stars who want to play with him. Since he was 15 he has always been the center of attention. In contrast to D Wade who was mature enough to play second fiddle to Shaq and willing to come off the bench at the Olympics, Lebron has shown no such ability to coexist with other stars. His idea of leadership is to intimidate his teammates and to engage in the silly role playing the Cavaliers do before each game. I expect that there will be several stars more interested in coming to play with D Wade in Miami than to play with Lebron wherever he may be.

Whenever I hear Lebron speak I am always left with the feeling that he has no personality at all --- he simply says whatever he believes is the "appropriate" thing to say. Has anyone else noticed this?

He does more than that by stressing versatility. He also increases his bargaining position if he wants to trade Haslem since otherwise opposing GM's will think that he is desperate to dump Haslem.

In this instance I would take Riley at his word. He has been planning for the 2010 offseason for more than a year. He has cleared out more cap space than almost anyone else. Beasley is on a cheap contract that will allow Riley to sign Wade, another top tier free agent and still have some money to spare. This is his plan and has been for some time. That being said, if the right deal came around he would certainly consider it ( and he said as much). That deal, would, however, have to be pretty amazing to blow up his long term plan.

The Beasley debate was probably the most contentious dispute among Heat fans in many years. The Beasley boosters ( me included) are fully aware of the many defects in his game. We understand, however, that true talent is rare and cannot be taught. We also have seen enough basketball to recognize that this young man is truly talented. The Beasley detractors IMHO cannot see past the immediate present. They have no ability to project into the future of what a few years of experience will do for his game. It is fundamentally a lack of vision.

I would hope Spo learned a ton. But you need a certain basic level of talent to be able to raise your game. I am not sure he does

doctorb | May 03, 2009 at 07:58 PM He might of but that was not my point. My point is that only by making mistakes do you really learn anything. He can't blame Spo for the turnovers today or the missed open shots during the playoffs ( although he may blame Spo for not getting enough playing time). He can only blame himself and vow to improve.

there is no substitute for experience. It was great we got to a game 7 and the young players saw how much they had to learn. When Beasley was drafted he said he wanted to be the rookie of the year and the mvp in his first year. He probably beleived it. After experiencing this season( with its ups and downs) do you think he views the NBA the same way he did last year. Of course, not. He experienced the league, saw that the players and stronger than him, that when he spun he lost the ball and that his shot was not always on. He will learn and get better because he now knows his weaknesses when before he only knew his strengths.

Yes the game was disappointing but it was not realistic to expect this young team to win game 7 on the road without JO. Overall a mixed season. Yes -- we improved considerably over the 15 wins of last season but with a healthy Wade a considerable improvement would have been expected. Beasley showed us some flashes of what we can expect if he maintains a good offseason work ethic. He will be a stud --- give him a little more time. Chalmers is a capable back up point guard. If JO can strengthen his legs in the offseason he will be a capable scoring option down low for one more year ( all that we need from him). So next year we can expect a team that is a little more experienced and together than this years team but still not contending material. Riley's grand plan is still to make the leap to contender status after next seaon and I think we are on track. Wade is not going anywhere for the paranoid ones out there. I also think we might see Haslem moved in the offseason if the right deal comes around ( perhaps packaged with Blount). Clearly the priority for next year must be to improve at SF and PG.