Heat sign point guard Parker
July 27, 2007
MIAMI (AP) -- Free-agent point guard William "Smush" Parker signed Friday with the Miami Heat (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/mia/;_ylt=AiP2RxxekMh3XdkSVT1id4WLvLYF), his seventh team since turning pro in 2002.
Heat sign point guard Parker - NBA - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=ApyYhcPNjFy_sXdrjlOJYHK8vLYF?slug=ap-heat-parker&prov=ap&type=lgns)

Maybe if they signed him, they would be willing to take Nazr off of our hands.

:hoops:

Hoopsanalyst has an interesting take on this signing.


Interesting move for both parties. Parker has shown some skills as an NBA player, though he is far from a traditional point guard. In that sense, Miami works. Dwyane Wade will dominate the ball and Parker can match up against either backcourt player on defense. The price is also pretty good (two years and $6 million). Assuming Pat Riley can get Parker to defend consistently, this could be a good signing.


The move isn't risk free. Parker is in a strange place in that he is close to establishing himself as a bona fide NBA player but he is not really that good to be unreliable or feuding with coaches. Parker managed to tick off both John Lucas in Cleveland and Phil Jackson last year in Los Angeles. It's not clear if the falling out with Jackson was a ploy to motivate Smush or an honest dislike. A review of recent Laker recaps (http://usatoday.sandboxplus.com/2005/News/content/playerpages/player_main.asp?sport=NBA&ID=911) indicate that whatever the initial friction was, Jackson definitely was not happy by the end. Check some of these recaps from the USA Today on Parker for April 2007:

-April 6, 2007: Parker on Jackson: ""I gave up trying to read that man a long time ago. [Jackson] just asked me if I got my energy back. And I was like, 'Energy? I never lost it.'"
-April 15, 2007: Jackson on Parker: "I thought he had absolutely no energy out there in the third quarter, showed me nothing that he wanted to do. He gave us an effort that wasn't up to what we had to have."
-April 24, 2007: Jackson on Parker: "He should have some leadership ability [as a former starter]. I wasn't happy with the passes he made and some of the decisions. And then the defensive end, obviously, was a problem."
-April 27, 2007: Recap of Parker's game: "Parker failed to score tonight and irked Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni by trying to jam at the buzzer despite the game being decided. He also failed to realize the shot clock was running down on a late possession and then missed a 3-pointer badly on the Lakers' next trip down the floor....It's tough to tell whether D'Antoni or Phil Jackson is more angry with Parker right now."
My sense is that some of the friction was more related to the fact the Lakers were going down in flames as an organization at the time. Still, there is definitely some indication that Parker can be tough to deal with. It reminds me very much of teams taking chances on Stephen Jackson in the early 2000s. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out but at such a low price there is little risk for Miami.
HOOPSANALYST (http://hoopsanalyst.com/0607tra11.htm)

1. The Laker organization is not going down in flames. The fact that the author would write that automatically destroys his/her credibility as far as their knowledge of the Lakers and their players.

2. Parker's problems are a lot worse than his locker room manners. The guy is just lousy. He is worse than Flip by far. Other than an occasional steal or two and few buckets here and there he has no NBA level game.

:hoops:

This is a fittng title seeing as how miami pursued everyone and ended up with Smushy. same problems different day with him. i guess they needed someone to fill a roster spot

This is a fittng title seeing as how miami pursued everyone and ended up with Smushy. same problems different day with him. i guess they needed someone to fill a roster spot
This is sort of reminiscent of Joe grabbing Nazr while being in a panic mode. Except Heat only got the guy for 2 years under the reasonable contract.

Isn't Smush on his 4th or 5th team already?

He's played for 2 HOF coaches, possibly 3. (Jackson, Brown and maybe D'Antoni). If he flames out under another HOF Coach (Riley), this guy is a total loser.

i think its a little different in that they still have williams. Joe D needed SOMEONE. we were underbiddng constantly on the overpaid C market.