Beverly Gone

Well, that was quick and weird. A couple of months after the Miami Heat spent $1.5 million to acquire Patrick Beverly in the draft, the combo-guard signed a contract with Olympiakos in Greece. He is gone. The Heat will still own his NBA rights, but the question here is what the hell was all that Pat Riley talk about getting the player we wanted to get and how important he would be for the Heat this season. 

Granted, he is a second round pick, NBA rookie, and nobody considered him such a hot prospect. I did, however, thought he could be a steal like Mario Chalmers and become an important piece of the puzzle. Considering what we have today, Beverly was better than nothing. 

So now we have nothing. Does this mean there may be another shot at Iverson? Do the Heat have other plans for a veteran point guard? I don't know, and I hope the Heat front office does because after the Michael Beasley news this is starting to be a very strange week, following a very strange summer of no-action (sorry QRICH).

I'm still positive that something good will happen before training camp begins, but at the moment I don't understand what is the direction we are going. It may be a good decision for Beverly to play one more year abroad before coming to the NBA, and it may benefit the Heat in the long run, but right now we have Dwyane Wade on his last year of his contract and I feel that the Heat are doing everything possible for him to leave.

Comments

[Miami Sports Generation]

Hey Andy,

Don't mean to burst your bubble, but P-Bev was not likely to play this season - at all. Only in blowout situations may he have gotten playing time. At SG the Heat have Wade, Cook and QRich lined up and at PG there's Chalmers, Quinn and maybe Beverly as a third string. Where would the playing time have come from?

At least we can be happy he is still owned by the Heat. He may be a good player down the road and his over seas endeavors will likely give him valuable experience (and lots of playing time). Beverly was not a game changer this season and his departure does not really change anything in terms of where Miami will end up in the standings.

Like you said, there is still hope that we acquire another player before training camp. Unfortunately, Iverson has been offered deals by the Bobcats and Grizzlies. I don't see him coming to Miami at this point. Jamaal Tinsley is still available and so is Flip Murray. Those are two veteran guards we can use right about now. Let's wait and see what happens. Also, never weigh out the possibility of a trade.

Take care,
David J. Verjano

[Andy K.]

You are probably right. That was the obvious way things would go with Beverly, but after so much talk from Pat Riley about how much of a prospect and a steal Beverly was for the Heat, I thought he would get enough minutes off the bench.

The fact remains that we need to get some veterans to help these kids or Dwyane Wade will be frustrated very soon. I don't think he can have a better season than the last, and even if he does its not enough if he gets no help.