Beasley Passes First Test

New Heat forward and co-face of the franchise Michael Beasley said all of the right things during his introductory press conference on the floor at AmericanAirlines Arena.

He launched his Heat career with five words that sounded more like a prediction than a wish: "Lets win us another championship," he said at the end of his opening statement.

Here are a few other Beasley tidbits from Friday.

Beasley on the relief of finally getting to his NBA city ... "I'm just happy to be here. Obviously, it's a great organization, great team, great fans. I want to be here for 15 or 20 years if I can play that long."

Beasley on reality setting in ... "All of my thoughts are just in a whirlwind right now. It's all about what's coming next. How I might play. I was nervous. I'm still nervous. I knew that I might have been the No. 1 or No. 2 pick for a long time. But reality has set in and my life is changing dramatically."

Beasley on speculation that Miami had questions about his character and might trade him ... "Coach told me not to pay any attention to what was said in the media. But it was hard. It was kind of hard to put aside all that's been said. I was just hoping that it would play out well and it did."

Beasley on being passed over by the Bulls to fall to No. 2 ... "I'm very competitive. But it all worked out for the better. I just have to prove to everyone that I'm the best player in this draft."

Beasley on partnering with Dwyane Wade, although he had yet to hear from Wade ... "I love watching Dwyane Wade. He's a great player. A Finals MVP. He won a championship. And it's a dream come true to be in the same organization with a player like that."

Beasley on his impact with the Heat ... "I just want to come into this organization and make an impact early. I'd like to be the go-to guy. I'm going to do whatever it takes. Rebound. Loose balls. Whatever it takes."

Beasley on maturity and past so-called character issues ... "It's a business. It's my job now. But in order to do well, you have to love your job. I think basketball is the funnest thing in the world to do. I'm going to smile everyday."

Comments

[JC]

Great fantastic draft for the heat, Ric Bucher is stupid, he should be fired, I really dislike him, He loves to create rumors and just annoys me, shut up, your like snotty teenage girl creating BS...sorry about that, but anyway I like the whole wade got his pippen, I mean Riley at first said it was Marion, but that was obviously a stretch, but not anymore, If wade gets back to 100% which he better because he is playing in the olympics...I can see the heat stacking at least 3 or 4 more championships in the next few years...Marion is being way undervalued I think, Maybe that's just me, But He is dam good, he defends, he rebounds, he's athletic, he can shoot, pass, and he is a team player...Giving him up for stupid players not a good idea...

Now for Brand sounds nice just that, He is injury prone and he would have to play center, the question is can he? He is strong but he is undersized at about 6-8 or 6-9...But a line up of Haslem, brand, beasley, wade, and chalmers/banks/FA/J Will is pretty solid considering we still have a bench featuring cook, wright, davis, and hopefully Zo

My personal idea of what would be great for the Miami Heat is trading shawn marion for Baron Davis...That would fill the point guard need...Davis is also an expiring contract and if he does nopt work out he is out...Then we can maybe trade haslem and blount and quinn for lamar odom, and with the MLE we sign the top center in FA, or workout a sign and trade for one...remember we still have joel anthony, and cheap labor like diop is there, and Zo if he comes back can give us 12-15 minutes a game...if trades like that go through we would have potential line up of

Baron Davis/Banks/Chlamers/J Will
Wade/Cook
Odom/Davis/Wright
Beasley/Anthony
Diop/Zo

Pretty good, and some extra players there too to use as trade chips, like J Will and Davis...

What you guys think?

[Chris]

Is there any video?

[Joe]

JC, your trade proposals make no sense. Why would Golden State trade us Baron Davis. What exactly will Marion do for them?? Then the mother of all senseless trade suggestions, Miami's garbage for Lamar Odom. Why in the world would the Lakers want Haslem or Quinn or Blount the stiff. The Lakers are a Championship team, the wont trade one of their best players for garbage players from a 15 win team. So you asked what we think?? I think you need to drop the pipe

[thejuandiggler]

Yeah, more realistic is that we trade Marion for L Odom if that leaves us enoght cap for E Brand to opt out and come down south.
A good PG is gonna be hard to get with Haslem , maybe a Juan Carlos Navarro or Beno Udrih are more realistic options.
Wish we could get B Davis or L Barbosa !
CHALMERS/UDRIH
WADE
ODOM
BEASLEY
BRAND?/ZO/DIOP
This scenario is more likely, we gotta hold on to $$$$$$to keep nucleaus of WADE N Beasley

[mike33076]

What a lot of people on this blog forget when proposing trades is that there is another side to the trade. GM's are not completely stupid. No GM would take an Odom trade for the 11th, 12th, 13 14, and 15th players on the Heat's beach. And Golden State doesn't need Marion. They might make that trade if Marion was signed to a multi year contract, but he's not, or if a 3rd team was involved with players they want.

[Dave]

Does anyone know when we're actually gonna have some kind of press conference to unveil Beasley's actual jersey. I noticed Mayo and Love had theirs like the day after the draft (which i almost find a little fishy) while Rose and Beasley still don't have numbers assigned. Do we have to wait for them to sign contracts? And if so, how did Mayo and Love sign theirs so quickly?

[Dave]

I actually meant to say Mayo and Love had their jerseys ready almost immediately after the trade, not the draft, which I think is more suspicious than if they had them like the day after the draft. Maybe Mayo accepted some cash a little quicker and from the Grizzlies before draft? Just kidding, but seriously, what's the deal with that?

[dom]

JC your right, 1st, Baron can opt out, 2nd, their loaded at PG and have monta ellis, and were interested in marion since they run like phoenix. They also do not have the money to sign all those young gunners. Now that we have our front line, I say marion for Bdavis straight up, They are both in the final year. If BDavis(who has never won) wants to win, he can resign for the 10-12 m riley wants to pay marion and now we have davis,wade,wright,beasley and haslem. Plus, if we get baron, and SOMEONE Tell me if this is accuarate. Let his contract expire, sign someone big time with his money, and then resign baron to go over the cap since YOU CAN GO OVER THE CAP TO SIGN YOUR OWN FREE AGENTS? IF we get davis, forget it. Wade ,davis, beasley is an awesome 3. PLUS< boozer and brand want to come here, so we can do some sign and trade with haslem to get 1 of them, NOW, we have a team of allstars.
2. IF THIS IS ZO"s last year, and he can play, he is playing 30min per game. Why would he come back to sit?? HE did it 2 years ago when shaq went down? remember he avg'd 14 and 10 if you all recall. ??
3. Chad Fords top 100(and he was right on the money) had Chalmers ranked 16th. HE was only 1 of 2 people not in his 1st round mock. WE GOT A STEAL GUYS------Read rileys comments that many mocks even had chalmers in the lotto. We really came thru. Even if he is a 20-25 min defensive and 3 pt guy.

[dom]

Haslem for odom is not a bad deal for LA. Haslem is valued around the league, and would be better for LA--they need a dirty worker, banger, double digit rebounder type. We would have to add cook or wright, but it can be done. 2. I think theres still something up with us and memphis. I called it 1st, but somehow I say Riley still gets mayo w/o giving up beasley. Memphis needs Power players and gave up Love? makes no sense. I can see some 3 team trade coming up with haslem goign to memphis, oj coming here, and maybe memphis dealing something and a few other players involved. But they have conley/lowry/gay/ and more in their backcourt without OJ and Arthur who was traded 3 times on draft night is basically their only PF> Maybe we are getting Darko and OJ? or Kwame and OJ? giving up marion and haslem and getting brand or boozer somehow. COME ON GUYS? Remember in 05, we got WALKER, J WILL< POSEY in 1 trade YOu know Riley wants to win now, SOMETHIKNG IS COMING

[Sherman Douglas]

I don't know if this is wishful thinking, but I would like to see Riles make another run at Allen Iverson. I always thought AI would be a big hit in AAA and South Beach. Can you just imagine DW and AI putting pressure on opposing defenses with their ability to get to the hoop.

[Wade]

AI is not a team player,he is all about himself.Also, he is a SG anyway,and a healthy wade is head and shoulders above AI.I hope we do well this season.GO HEAT.

[Atlanta Heatster]

1 question: Has any one here been a NBA GM? Didn't think so. Some of you folks are taking yourselves too seriously. Chill with all the attacks, it's just discussion. Anyway, Haslem should not get traded, he's the utility man; does the dirty work for your team. Every team needs one. If anything you trade Marion while he still has value, since it's obvious he's still all about money and no rings. (what can you do with 17M that you can't do with 13M?) Anyway, trade Marion for a SOLID PG and get a C from FA (like a turbo-kendrick perkins who specializes on defense). Odom would be a nice but unlikely. Plus he wet himself in the Finals so he's unreliable. Sorry but it was a matter of time, the Lakers had most of you fooled all year for the same reason, they're so-called best players pissed themselves when the pressure was on (Gasol, Odom, and the two Euro players, WHAT A JOKE!!) Would be nice if Riley can redeem himself by getting Posey or Kapono back after puking on his Armani last year by letting them walk. Always need a sniper on the team too.

[hawk52]

You will Love Michael Beasley. Opponents fans even cheered him on. The more the crowd goes off, the better he does. The Best Michael Beasley video on YouTube. Watch the Colorado fans dig it, especially the second half of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuseOeF6Ga4

[ebag]

i agree that udonis should stay and marion should go. as much as i love the chalmers/quinn point guard combo, an upgrade would be nice. i'd like to see them trade marion for hinrich and maybe a spare big man (jo noah?)