Miami Heat Preseason Presser

[logpmess]

Welcome to the Miami Heat Press conference.

A little about last year. We were disappointed in our season last year. Although we were probably the most injured team throughout the regular season last year having only 3 sims with all of our starters healthy, we don't allow that as an excuse. We expect the players that are on the floor to produce and they flat out did not. We were pleasantly surprised with some of our bench players throughout the season. When thrusted into the starting role, Pat Garrity proved he can be a scorer in this league. Walter Palmer and Rich King did tremendous jobs playing the role of veteran leadership at the big spots.

This offseason was a pretty successful offseason. It started with our three draft picks: Drew Gooden, Kareem Rush, and Dan Dickau. We expect all three of these players to be deeper bench players allowing them to develop into contributing members of this team. Since I have taken over as GM, Dan is only the second player to be maintained by this team as a second round pick. The previous player was Scott Haskin, who was a contributing player to a playoff team for multiple years. We expect that Dan can be the same.

We decided to part with long time member of the Heat Tony Delk to bring on veteran superstar Steve Smith. We wish Tony all the luck this year and in the future with the New York Knicks. We decided that a veteran like Smith can bring some added leadership to this team.

In restricted free agency, we were able to bring back Pat Garrity for a super team friendly deal. As stated before, we like his scoring ability going forward and can see him stepping into a starters role over the length of his contract. In the first round of free agency, we addressed our on glaring weakness: players at the 4 and 5 position. Realizing that we probably didn't have a chance at the big name free agents with our current salary cap situation, we decided to send out multiple offers to veteran free agents. Those players will be playing for a spot on this team throughout the first half of this year. We did not make anymore bids after that round of free agency in that we saw our team as complete.

Training camp treated us as expected for the most part. Our current younger players improved some and our aging players declined some. No decline was significant enough to take the coaching staff by surprise. Our biggest disappointment was that our lottery pick Drew Gooden did not develop as quickly as expected. He also lost some of his potential growth, but hopefully we can work past that and he can still be a good player for this team in future years.

Pre-season took the team by surprise as we went winless through six games. The biggest surprise to us is that the computer appeared to start steve smith at the power forward spot. I can assure you that this line up will not be the case. Currently our lineup is as follows:

C - Joel Pryzbilia
PF - Cherokee Parks
SF - Steve Smith
SG - Shandon Anderson
PG - Gary Payton

Our sixth man of the bench is going to be the dynamic Alvin Williams. He has proven throughout both of his times with the Heat that he is a top sixth man in the league. We are hoping to be a big bodied guard based team that can produce a higher scoring output than previous years.

I will now open the floor to questions.

[42PhD]

Dr. Rocker from the Cleveland Rocker:

You traded Delk for Smith and added some first round selections. I'd say you've likely improved this season, but there is a question of how much. Though you've got a good chance of making the playoffs, you did not take a leap . . . more of a step, even in spite of Payton's aging.

This raises the question as to whether the Delk trade was to try to get significantly better this season or to clear up some space cap space for next season rather than the season after while treading water in the shallow East. Can you tell us how these weighed in your decision to trade Delk?

[kucoach7]

There are still rumors around the league that the Glove will be gone by the end of the year. What chance do you say there is that Gary Payton stays on the team all season?

[NOLa.]

What's the forecast for this team this season? Will you trade for talent to compete in your division and make one more run with Payton, or do you find yourself leaning towards trading away your talent for future assets?

[NickMalone77]

How much value do you see in keeping Joel Pryzbilla in a Heat uniform. Do you see his abilities playing a similar role and impact to former Heat member, Adam Keefe?

[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: While your ability to continually surround Payton with talent in his latter years is admirable, this team still looks like one that's headed for an inevitable crash. Who - or what - are you looking towards to bring this franchise into the future?

[logpmess]

Dr. Rocker from the Cleveland Rocker:

You traded Delk for Smith and added some first round selections. I'd say you've likely improved this season, but there is a question of how much. Though you've got a good chance of making the playoffs, you did not take a leap . . . more of a step, even in spite of Payton's aging.

This raises the question as to whether the Delk trade was to try to get significantly better this season or to clear up some space cap space for next season rather than the season after while treading water in the shallow East. Can you tell us how these weighed in your decision to trade Delk?

The Delk trade was about the future. Although he is in his prime at the moment, we don't have the immediate team around him to make a real run. Smith is not a huge drop off defensively, but is a slight improvement defensively. It also allows me to move Shandon to the 2 spot. Choosing to get rid of Delk was a tough decision, but we are starting to see a future away from the people we originally drafted.

[logpmess]

There are still rumors around the league that the Glove will be gone by the end of the year. What chance do you say there is that Gary Payton stays on the team all season?

We still have high value for Gary Payton, and he is still able to be a significant piece on a good team. We are open to shopping him, but he still has a high price tag. I have no problem to keeping him and having him during my turnaround.

[logpmess]

What's the forecast for this team this season? Will you trade for talent to compete in your division and make one more run with Payton, or do you find yourself leaning towards trading away your talent for future assets?

Since I came into this league, I walked onto a team with a top player in the league. We have built around him and made the playoffs more years than not. We were also able to make a real run one year in the playoffs by making it to the Eastern Conference finals and pushing Quail really early in that series. However, we never really had the opportunity to start fresh.

We feel that we have a really similar team to that year that we made it to the ECF at the moment, and look forward to what this season brings. If I move at all, it will be toward the future, not the present.

[logpmess]

How much value do you see in keeping Joel Pryzbilla in a Heat uniform. Do you see his abilities playing a similar role and impact to former Heat member, Adam Keefe?

Joel is a solid piece to start with for the future. We want him to develop some leadership qualities and be that piece that Adam was in the past. We don't think he is there yet, but Adam benefited from playing next to some quality big men. We were hoping that Gooden could become that piece next to Joel, but that would be a few years away.

[logpmess]

Random Reporter: While your ability to continually surround Payton with talent in his latter years is admirable, this team still looks like one that's headed for an inevitable crash. Who - or what - are you looking towards to bring this franchise into the future?

Our immediate future is as follows:
C-Joel Pryz
PF- Drew Gooden
SF - Pat Garrity
SG - Kareem Rush
PG - Alvin WIlliams

We do like Dickau coming off the bench too. Obviously these players are not a championship contender, but as we draft higher quality players at different positions, these players can transition to strong back up roles with the team. Also, In 2004, we have a huge drop in cap space, with only Dickau and Pryz needing to be resigned.

[Bowtothebill23]

Gary Payton struggled mightily in the preseason shooting under 40% from the field and averaging under 6 assists a game. Additionally, his defense is a far cry from what it once was. Do you feel this is an aberration and he's still a superstar or is this his new norm? What do you plan on trying in your gameplan to help him produce?

[logpmess]

Gary Payton struggled mightily in the preseason shooting under 40% from the field and averaging under 6 assists a game. Additionally, his defense is a far cry from what it once was. Do you feel this is an aberration and he's still a superstar or is this his new norm? What do you plan on trying in your gameplan to help him produce?

I feel that he will benefit more with a natural shooter next to him at shooting guard. So with the transition of Shandon Anderson to the two spot then Payton will be able to facilitate to both him and Steve Smith more efficiently. We know that he will not be the superstar that he was in previous years, but we will gameplan according to the team as the season goes.

[IamQuailman]

Awarded 5 pts!

[logpmess]

Thanks Gary Payton for all of your years of service. Looking forward to the new direction with these two new stars.


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