Haslem Drawing Interest

Haslem became overrated as a player while Miami was winning a title. I’m very disappointed with this past season from him. He’s been working on his offensive game like a madman for years and he still can’t do anything with the ball. Haslem is an undersized solid rebounding solid defensive role player. He’s not a great defender and struggles against long power forwards (there’s a few of them knocking about on contenders right now) which limits his value to contenders considerably.

Adding Haslem only makes sense if you have a physical dominant center (tall, long, strong, very big). Otherwise he’s overpaid, undersized and his trade value will likely outprice him from being a good deal. So who has a physical dominant centre? Orlando do. Clippers could probably pull it off. Lakers. Hornets perhaps. San Antonio. Spurs would be interesting. They are the only teams that have big centers that would have an interest in Haslem (Phoenix or Portland should not be interested)

Milwaukee and Toronto are eh … sort of interesting teams. Both with long power forwards. Milwaukee would have Yi and Bogut, they could probably live with an undersized four who rebounds and plays D. Toronto have Bosh and Bargnani. Neither is a great fit but Milwaukee is the better of the two. Toronto really need a bigger body than Haslem to defend guys like Dwight Howard. Bogut could do that, somewhat, for Milwaukee. Okay so what could Milwaukee offer? Bad contracts that’s all they have to offer. Mo Williams was someone Riley liked so that’s a possible hook up.

Other than that you’re talking about teams trying to make lateral moves or trim down dead weight. Not good trading partners.

Okay so let’s look at those teams with the big bodys at centre; Spurs, Magic, Clippers, Lakers, Hornets. So what do each of one of those teams have to offer.

Orlando[/u] – Nelson or Battie. I wouldn’t give up Battie for Haslem because Battie can likely defend KG better which is important for the Magic, and because Battie is a second shot blocker. Nelson is the only guy. That leaves the Magic who had the worst backcourt in the playoffs with no guards at all. Orlando isn’t a great fit.
[u]Clippers[/u] – Clips could offer Cuttino or Tim Thomas. Not exactly a bounty, two bad contracts. They can get better than Haslem for Maggette in a sign and trade so I wouldn’t consider that. Brand, Haslem, Kaman would be a decent rotation. Not much to offer though.
[u]Hornets[/u] – have nothing to offer. I wouldn’t make Julian Wright available because Wright is better than Haslem. That leaves a bad two year contract of Mike James. Actually no, they could deal Mo Peterson. Mo Pete is easily replacedable for the Hornets. I wouldn’t do that if I’m Miami but it’s a decent offer.
[u]Lakers[/u]
LA needs more muscle and hustle in the paint. Haslem could help. They’d have Radmanovic, Walton perhaps alongside Farmer to float around. Or a larger deal which is hard to imagine based around Odom which I can’t see happening. That could be a decent offer. Gives Miami a young point in Farmer and an acceptable wing. Lakers get rid of a bad contract and fill a void.
[u]Spurs
Spurs have nothing to offer. Haslem would be a nice pickup for them because they defend guys like West better. Plus Haslem is a decent caddy to Tim like he was with Shaq. Then again Aldridge and Gasol are huge problems which are very hard to overlook. Anyone they have nothing to offer. Their expiring contracts have expired.

……………

I can’t see Haslem getting traded. Riley overvalues him. Luckily there seems like a few others in the league who also do, but probably not enough to give Riley lots of options. I don’t see any promising trades on the horizon for Haslem. It’s get rid of the contract and find a role player time. You’re not getting a player who’s proven himself as an above average starter at another position like a TJ Ford. That shouldn’t happen and likely won’t happen. Haslem himself isn’t even an above average starter.

Haslem will earn 6.5mil and 7mil over the next two years. Not a great contract but not a lot of length there, that’ll help.

When Riley really goes hunting after deals I think he’ll find Haslem doesn’t have much value on the market.