Exit Interview: Ricky Davis

With an important offseason ahead of the Heat, Mike and I will be analyzing each player from the Heat's 2007-08 roster. Just like Pat Riley met with each player after the season ended, we will be doing our own "exit interviews" that you'll find posted here during the next couple of weeks.  Let's start with one of the biggest question marks for next season:

Ricky Davis, 6-7, F/G

2007-08 stats: 13.8 ppg, 4.3 reb, 3.4 assists in 36.1 minutes a game

Career averages: 14.3 ppg, 3.7 reb, 3.5 assists in 31.1 minutes a game

Status: Free agent

Looking back: Davis was the Heat's most durable player, after arriving days before the season started from Minnesota as part of the package in the Timberwolves' trade for Antoine Walker. Davis was the only Heat player to play in all 82 games, proving to be a reliable scorer whether he started or came off the bench. In his second go-around with the Heat, he showed his ability as a solid three-point shooter (40.5 percent) but seemed to miss clutch shots down the stretch that could have led to at least a few victories. His accuracy beyond the arc--25th in the league--was better than J.R. Smith, Chauncey Billups, NBA Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobili, Hedo Turkoglu and Ray Allen. Davis' defense is iffy at times and it seemed like coach Pat Riley constantly yelled at Davis to position himself better on that end of the court.

Looking ahead: The Heat has very limited cap space, so Davis is probably a good option to help fill out the rotation. On a healthy Heat team with a top draft pick, Davis is a bench player and perhaps worthy of being a sixth man. He has his weaknesses, but for a guy who has averaged double digits over a nine-year career, Davis should be on the team's wish list. One knock on Davis is that he has been on losing teams throughout his career. Sure, he isn't a one-man show that can singlehandedly carry a losing team,  but remember there is a difference between a guy being a role player on a losing team and being a loser. Davis played through injuries instead of finding a way to sit out during the Heat's miserable season. It's reflective of his personality and it would be hard to conceive the idea of Davis being a hindrance to a playoff team. He is not a bad-attitude guy.Davis, who has had a nomadic career, repeatedly said he would love to re-sign with the Heat. Davis turns 29 before next season. The Heat can exceed the salary cap to re-sign Davis. He said he'd be willing to take a short-term (two years?) or long-term deal for the right fit.

Best bet: Outside of trying to sign free agents Mickael Pietrus (whom the Heat had interest in last summer) or Bonzi Wells, the free-agent options for this position are slim given the Heat's lack of cap space. Davis is a very capable rotation player and letting him go could mean accepting a lesser player.

U-Decide: Re-sign him short-term? Long-term? Let him go? What would you do and why?

Comments

[Adam H]

Let him go. He is a loser with an loser's mentality. Riley said he wants his new player to have a winning and workhorse mentality. (One of the players Wade and Marion hinted at as needing to go).

Also, Davis is possibly the worst team defender in league history. He gets burned regularly and is always looking around and shaking his head, acting like he doesn't know what just happened. Though he has the athleticism to be a good defender, he has no will or desire to be.

[Dan G.]

It isn't so much that he is unskilled (he's very skilled) or that he has a bad attitude.
He just doesn't read the game well as a player.
Defensively, he is inconsistent with his effort and focus - I have seen him play excellent D (against Paul Pierce for example) when he is motivated.

I think you take a pass on Ricky because of his bone-head errors (even as a bench player, he will see key minutes on a good team) and the fact that at 9 years in the league, he is what he is.

The problem with the team in the Shaq years is attitude and mental errors and I think you want to rebuild with a solid core from that perspective.

I think D-Wright gets a pass from the above analysis because he is still a young player unlike Ricky.

Ricky would have been best seved in his career if he had not been traded from Miami when he was still a moldable, young player.

[Justin]

I would take Pietris any day of the week. Good 3 point shooter and a great defender who played very well towards the end of the year when Don Nelson finally decided to play the guy. The only advantage Davis has over Pietrus is his ball handling skills. Davis killed us with his decision making this year (especially in the 4th quarter).

[heatstroked]

"The Heat can exceed the salary cap to re-sign Davis."

Yes they can. But the Heat would still have to pay the LT should cumulative salaries, including Davis' new deal, exceed the threshold.

Otherwise, I'm inclined to agree Davis could be good value and is/was (this past season) the latest victim in a growing line of lynchees (Payton, Walker, Posey, O'Neal, Jason Williams) strung up for incurring the personal enmity of certain media divas.

For example, as often as Davis' obvious, sometimes glaring and inopportune turnovers attracted local prosecution, other more "popular" or respected players -- including Steve Nash, Mike Bibby, Jordan Farmar, Hedo Turkoglu, Josh Smith, Raymond Felton, Devon Harrs -- logged even higher turnover rates despite similar or comparable usage [1] without a blink.

Unfortunately, Riley has developed a recent Nero/Commodus persona of playing to the mob, i.e., *not* backing or supporting suddenly unpopular players.

[heatstroked]

Link.

[1] http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=aAtgw

[Merlin]

I like Davis as a player and I would resign him. But he's not going to start winning people over until he gets some floor burns.

[Dave]

I would resign Ricky. He is a player who actually want to be in Miami. In recent years players have either avoided Miami or have been glad to leave. Ricky is not a player who is going to defend well and shouldn't be thought of in that way, Ricky is a guy who can come of the bench and give you some scoring while your starters rest. If the reason we lost games was because of Ricky's shaky defense then we are all deluding ourselves because Ricky was the least of our problems.

[papi]

Cook is too good and Wade is too young. Therefore, if Miami gets Rose (trade Cook and Banks for a center), and if Beasley (trade Cook and Haslem for a center).

That leaves Marion, Wright, Wade, and Davis on the perimeter, two scorers and two defenders. Davis is 29, not 19; he's made plenty of money and gotten plenty of pub. The only thing missing is the dizzying experience of NBA playoff success. He's likely to respond well in a structured, defined role ("microwave") on a winning team. He knows, likes, and has bought into the Heat system. A decent two-year contract is probably the best available option; better than Pietrus.

[Alexander]

I can't believe we're EVEN having this conversation!? Is there any doubt...really....that Ricky Davis does not know how to be a part of a winning basketball team? We don't need him. Get rid of him. Spoelstra wants his roster to get younger, not stupider.

[Jamil]

Only issue with you comment heatstroked, although a good argument is that most of those other players (Turkoglu not included) also had as much as TRIPLE the assists that Ricky did, while handling the ball within the majority of their minutes. Basically, they weren't all shooters, but distributors; Ricky doesn't run the point. That is why his errors are so noticeable.
As for keeping him, they should look to upgrade first, but he is a very secondary option if nothing plays out in either the draft or via trade. The issue is to make that choice soon, not let things stall such as last offseason.

[Jamil]

Sorry "your"

[heat2010]

Let him go.

As 1 scout mentioned - he doesnt have a high basketball IQ.

[Heat Fan in Iowa]

I never viewed Ricky as a savior for any team. He is very good at a few things and awful in others. I view Ricky like I did Kopono....Deadly 3pt, great Free Throw shooter, avg Rebounds/Assists for his size.... and then basically no defense.

True, he makes bone-headed decisions at times (same as Kopono did) But in my mind Ricky is a "role player" used for specific situations in specific games. NOT A STARTER...but could be very useful in certain situations...when the Heat need a 3pt shot to stop the bleeding during opponents RUNS.

If he comes into the game as a bench player ONLY when the other team inserts their bench, I don't think he would get burnt as bad with his defense. He does get taken often...but usually when guarding a STARTER.

Kopono flew for big $$$. If Ricky will stay for cheap, we could get some use from him, if used at the right times. I would want him for 6th or 7th man time in games. A pretty solid 6th, 7th, or 8th man in the rotation.

But you guys are right.....definitely keep him out of the 4th QTR !

[heatstroked]

most of those other players (Turkoglu not included) also had as much as TRIPLE the assists that Ricky did while handling the ball within the majority of their minutes ... Posted by: Jamil | May 10, 2008 at 08:03 PM

First, the Usg% stat doesn't account for assists (see the Glossary of terms).

Next, we didn't compile the list with a position or assists-to-TO ratios in mind. The list "compiled itself" based solely on the following criteria: Usg% > 20%, Usg% 13%. This means players with higher Usg% or lower TOV% rates (incl. LeBron, Kobe, CP3) did not make the list.

Third, your (correct) assertion that Davis did not play point (according to 82games.com, 49% at 3, 22% at 2, 2% at 4, 0% at 1) last season actually works in Davis' favor.

Turkoglu, unlike Davis, was essentially a point-forward for much of the regular season. Also unlike Davis, SVG actually *ran* plays *through* Hedo for Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis et al. What SVG did with Turkoglu this season was akin to Pippen's role sans Jordan in 1993-94 though Van Gundy did *not* give Caron Butler the same "freedom" in Butler's 2 x seasons with the Heat.

Meanwhile, contrast Davis who, like most Heat 3s under Riley (think Jamal Mashburn), was usually stuck with leftover touches, picknpop/kickout j's or expiring shot clocks -- the latter predictive of bad shots/plays.

Or, ***look at Marion -- after he became a Heat***. Marion's career TOV% is 8.8%.

Yet, Marion's TOV% rate after 16 games with Miami *ballooned* to a Davis-like 14. Ditto "clutch play." According to 82games.com Marion's hands-rating in clutch minutes is a Davis-like 6.5 (Davis, 6.0). What. Did Marion suddenly become dumb? A poor decision-maker? Injure his hands? Fall on his head? Or does "system" play a part? Including the historic *lack* of a defined or prioritized role for 3s in Riley's post-conceived, heavily scripted, pre-packaged and predictable offense which may increase the risk of TOs when players are forced to *improvise* or iso as the clock ticks off?

When you narrow the list to regular rotation players who averaged at least 15 mpg -- which I should've done the first time -- Davis' AST% rate (16.4) at 3 was actually well within the range of "normal" though more celebrated SFs, including Gerald Wallace (15.9) and Josh Smith (16.6) but less than focal 3s like a Turkoglu or Pierce [1].

Which hardly means Davis is undeserving of criticism. He is. And I'm anything but a Ricky Davis devotee or defender.

But in cold, objective terms, the case can be made Davis "could" be good value at the right price in the right role and is *not* the NBA antichrist local media divas or their respective cultists insist.

Just as important, Davis *wants* to be here which, as some Heat fans may eventually realize, does matter.

[1] http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/tiny.cgi?id=stWzG

[heatstroked]

Should read -- "The list compiled itself based solely on the following criteria: Usg% GT 20%, Usg% LT 25%, TOV% GT 13%. This means players with higher Usg% or lower TOV% rates (incl. LeBron, Kobe, CP3) did not make the list."

[james paul]

Damn a lot of you guys are brutal out there,i think if anything, missed late game shots or taking bad shots, or playing crappy defense most of the time are all probably Rickys weak points, he does have some value.Have to also say i think he should have earned a little respect from his year,all 82 games and in general how he handled it cause he played in all the games and competed,and he has some capability to score hoops and create his own shot,and yes i too saw Ricky play some defense this year, but nothing i read pointed to him being the cancer that destroyed this teams fighting, defensive,have your teammates back on the next rotation,{THIS IS OUR TRUE IDENTITY} warrior give 110 percent mentality.Listen he is what he is,rythem shooter ..scorer..can get to the rim and create his own shot..he can score.He isnt a great defender,his shot selection is not the greatest and i agree also some one said he needed more floorburns that equate to true desire on the defensive end but the years through out time have been full of guys who were a part of a team that had specialty guys of the bench.As a back up he,s not a bad specialty guy to have come off your bench.If he comes back at a cap freindly number and the team core and coaches belive he,s worthy based on the inside story from the locker room{cause i read good and not so good about him this year} i,d bring him back.Vinnie Johnson he definetly is not but i can see him having a role 6 thru 9 on the roster and using his strong suits to fit the right situations in the game.

[reno]

You know what's funny about this situation. The description of Ricky Davis sounds a lot like description of Antione Walker. Didn't the Heat win a championship with Walker? Lets take everything into perspective. He didn't go through training camp with the team, the team had a different lineup almost every other night yet he was constant. Good and bad, at least he was constant. Lets be real, after four seasons the jury is still out on Wright, Cook faded near the end and the Penny experiment didn't work. Keep him on a short term contract and see what happens. Maybe he can peak someone interest and the Heat piece him together in a trade with... I don't know Marcus Banks and get a another quality player. Either he will play well or he will not. Maybe with Erick Spoeslra and his up tempo offense the guy could shine. Either way he's not much of a gamble. They're not going to pay him top dollar anyway. And besides he actually wants to play for the Heat. Lets not forget about last summer when almost every player Miami went after, looked in another direction.

[Danny]

Ricky is a decent player who can score and make plays every once in a while, but i really just dont see him in the HEATs future success. If we end up drafting either Beasley or Rose then theres definitely no room for him to play with us. Not to mention we have (future Ray Allen) Daequan Cook and Dorell Wright who are youngin that are ready to play. Its a tough situation for Ricky, but we shouldnt waste our money on him when we can get a backup PG or Center.

[ECOMUG]

I would Keep Ricky and here is why. Rciky played every game. You didnt see him taking games off becaus ethe team was losing. When we traded for him, he wasnt supposed to come her eto be the #1 or 2 option, so I still think u keep him and let him slide to the role he was broght in here for last year. He will be instant offense off the bench and if we go to a more fast paced offense next year he wil thrive.
Lets Hope for luck in the Lottery too.

[mike]

If the heat get d-rose, ricky should stay short-term. He can drive and finish, shoot fom the outside and create plays. with d-wade, d-rose and marion theres no reason to play ricky in the fourth where he struggles. He can come off the bench and strectch the floor for marion, rose and wade to attack and he's very athletic.