The Trade Deadline Will Start Shaping What Goes Down With Vaunted ‘10 Class

There’s an extensive item in The Miami Herald today about Shawn Marion trade rumors. Toward the end, we get this further information about Shawn Marion and the Heat’s long-term future:↵↵⇥The Heat is receptive to trading Marion for a productive player whose contract runs through 2009-10 because: 1) Carlos Boozer, the top impending free agent, is no longer viewed as the ideal fit here, with Udonis Haslem and Michael Beasley at power forward. 2) Even if Miami kept Marion and didn’t re-sign him, it would have less than $10 million in cap space this summer, not enough for Boozer anyway.↵↵This is some of the first evidence we’re getting that cap space for 2010 may not rule the league in coming months. Sure, some team might want Marion because of the space he offers. But the Heat are one of the first to realize they can capitalize on this climate of hysteria. Granted, according to The Herald, holding on to Marion for salary purposes alone won’t help them that much. And the Boozer plans are out because of money, you could just as easily figure it’s been nixed (and The Matrix’s exit all the more urgent) because Michael Beasley needs some stability to thrive, which he can.↵
↵
↵

So say Marion ends up hitting the open market, either from the Heat, or some other team that’s rented him for part of a season, a la Iverson on the Pistons. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of money he -- and Boozer, once again hurt, arguably eclipsed by Paul Millsap, coming up for free agency in the worst year possible -- will fetch this summer. Someone could get a major deal on the likes of Marion, or Boozer, or Iverson. Or, look at it this way: To have any leverage, free agents will have to target teams that aren’t in the running for the Class of 2010, need immediate help, and aren’t interested in helping some other franchise enhance its cap situation.↵
↵
↵Who knows whether, in this high-stakes game of poker, we’ll see teams start to fold or drop their bluffs as this summer rolls around. If there’s not a major shift, 2009 might end up being the real summer that makes a difference.↵