Dorell Wright’s six-year stay in South Florida has come to an end. Wright signed a three-year contract worth just shy of $11 million to join the Golden State Warriors.

The 6’9″ small forward seemed to be turning a corner last season, averaging 7.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in his 21 minutes per game. It was the best overall season of his career, a season during which he began to show the promise that warranted his No. 19 selection in the 2004 NBA Draft.

But the Heat didn’t have the cap room to offer Dorell anything more than a minimum salary contract.

Here’s wishing all the best to Dorell Wright.

The following question to Ira Winderman has piqued some interest from my shockingly tiny reader base:

“In all your posts, you are undermining and flat out discarding one very real possibility for the Heat to round out the roster. That is, for veterans like U.D., J.O. and Q, and even possibly Dorell, to sign a one-year minimum deal and keep their Bird Rights.”

It is easy to understand the connotation behind this question, though it is not explicitly stated. The concept would be for the Heat to sign any or all of the players mentioned to one-season minimum contracts. Doing so would allow the Heat to maximize cap space this summer and, with Bird rights intact, exceed next year’s salary cap to grant them significant raises for their troubles.

While this is quite a creative concept, the premise is inherently flawed.

This approach is illegal. Teams are not permitted to make direct agreements with a player that are not reported to the league. If they do, the penalties can be severe. Such a violation is considered by the league to be among the most serious a team can commit. A violation can result in a fine of up to $5.0 million, forfeiture of draft picks, voiding of the player’s contract, and/or the suspension for up to one year of any team personnel who were involved. In addition, the player himself can be fined up to $100,000, and prohibited from ever signing with that team.

You might be saying to yourself that the easier solution would be to report the agreement to the league in order to avoid any allegations of wrong-doing. Future contracts, however, are also illegal.

You might also be saying to yourself the league would never find out. This is very risky business – particularly for complementary players – with the penalties being so severe.

In the summer of 1999, the Minnesota Timberwolves tried this approach with Joe Smith. Smith left the Philadelphia 76ers to sign with the Timberwolves. The two sides made an under-the-table agreement that Smith would play under three consecutive one-year contracts at below market value ($1.75 million, $2.1 million and $3.6 million), and the Timberwolves would reward him by using their Bird rights to sign him to a much larger contract beginning with the 2001/02 season (reportedly worth between $40 and $86 million over seven years, dependent on performance clauses).

The league discovered the arrangement the following season, and responded by fining the team the maximum (at the time) $3.5 million, taking away their next five draft picks (two were later returned), and voiding Smith’s then-current contract. Owner Glen Taylor and GM Kevin McHale also agreed to leaves of absence (in lieu of suspensions). Most interestingly, the league also voided Smith’s two previous, already-completed contracts. This essentially stripped the Timberwolves of any Bird rights to Smith.

If Riley were to be found in violation, leniency would not be something that would be afforded. Pat has a history of violations of league rules. Read more…

Tuesday's game was a career best.

By keeping the still very young and greatly improved small forward at the trade deadline, the Heat showed a surprising and welcome commitment to 2004 first round draft pick Dorell Wright. The irony is that the more he pays off that commitment with success on the court, the more difficulty it causes.

On Tuesday night, Wright scored a career-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including an amazing 6-of-7 from beyond the arc. He also had 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. It was far and away his best ever N.B.A. game. And he did it all in just 30 minutes of floor time.

Despite coach Spoelstra’s strange (to use a kind word) player rotations, Wright has become the unquestioned best small forward on the roster. Yes, he has struggled through inconsistent play at times – a natural result of inconsistent minutes – but he is proving to be exactly what Pat Riley has been searching for.

When the Heat signed James Jones in July 2008, he was dubbed as “a perfect fit” – a player who could space the floor for Dwyane Wade with his deadly 3-point shooting. But injuries have robbed him of precious floor time (and, apparently, nobody stopped to consider the awful 5-year, $23.2 million contract that eats into the Heat’s cap space this and the following two summers).

Wright has stepped up in a big way. He is the strong perimeter defender the Heat have for so many years been searching for, with the height and quickness to guard both guard and forward positions. He has shown flashes of the playmaking that had head coach Erik Spoelstra utilizing the 6’9″ player at the point. He’s always been an excellent rebounder and great natural athlete. And now, after years of hard work to improve an ugly shooting stroke that used to be released from well behind his head, he is becoming the Jones-like 3-point shooter that so well complements the slashing game of close personal friend Dwyane Wade. After converting a grand total of twelve 3-pointers in 55 attempts through his first five N.B.A. seasons, Wright has knocked down 37 this season, on 41.1% shooting.

Read more…

Daequan Cook has improved his shot of late (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Rafer Alston once again proved in Tuesday’s blowout Heat victory in Philadelphia that he may be best utilized as a spectator. Yes, he is the team’s best defender at the position. But I don’t put much stock in his so-called leadership. The team receives its on-court leadership from Dwyane Wade. And his offense has been atrocious. Alston is shooting just 36% from the floor since being signed by the Heat, averaging 7.2 points, 2.9 assists and 1.5 turnovers.

The Heat’s starting unit already has a play-maker in Dwyane Wade. It doesn’t need these qualities in its point guard. What it needs is a floor spacing outside shooter who can bring the ball up the floor in non-critical situations — a Mo Williams if you will. Thirty-three-year-old Rafer Alston is a sub-par shooter, and it has a tendency to destroy the unit’s offensive efficiency. At what point does the statute of limitations run out, and Alston get evaluated based on his play?

With every passing game, it seems more and more evident that the Heat should at least experiment with a starting rotation that includes Daequan Cook, Dorell Wright or both. These are players that are part of the team’s future, and have shown flashes of ability perform at a high level.

I should also mention that in the 6 minutes of floor time James Jones was given, he converted his only 3-point shot. He’s now shooting 43% from distance on the season. Perhaps it’s time for Spoelstra to give significant minutes to the players that have salary commitments that run into next season.

The always dapper Dorell Wright

As the NBA trade deadline fast approaches, questions are naturally beginning to surface in South Florida as to what activity we are likely to see from the Miami Heat.

The answer, quite simply, is nothing too exciting.

Pat Riley has a plan now nearly three years in the making. The plan, however tenuous it may appear in the current salary cap environment, is to sign three max contract free agents to long-term contracts next summer. The plan has always been to sacrifice the present for the benefit of the future.

At this point, nothing will – and nothing should – deter him from that goal.

Trading away the only continuing contracts – those of Daequan Cook and James Jones – would be ideal, but to think there would be a market for either would be exceedingly naive.

And so all that remains are financial considerations.

Miami’s payroll currently stands at $72.7 million, $2.8 million over the luxury tax threshold. Unfortunately for Dorell Wright, he happens to be making a tidy $2.9 million. That puts him directly in the line of fire.

Should Dorell Wright be traded? Read more…