LET LBJ PLAY PG

The Miami Heat have a situation at point guard. Who to start? Mario Chalmers? A guy who showed talent his rookie year but then had a huge drop-off his second year in the league? Or Carlos Arroyo, an NBA journeyman who doesn't really do anything spectacularly? Mario Chalmers is most famous for making a last second shot in the NCAA tournament a few years ago. "Super" Mario is his nickname, but he has done close to nothing in the NBA so far to be considered starter caliber. He's an average on the ball defender who likes to gamble. He might get a few steals, but more likely than not he is getting beat by most point guards in the league. What is most shocking to me is that he appeared slower his second season. I don't know how it's possible to lose speed at his age (second year player) but that's how it seemed to me. Carlos Arroyo on the other hand has never been known to be a great defensive player. The upside for Arroyo is that he doesn't turn the ball over much, but that is countered by the fact he's not a great playmaker either. Aside from that, his range is not as good as Chalmers' (although I wouldn't call Chalmers a lethal threat from beyond three point range either).


Many people around the league, the so called experts, have made much of the fact we don't have a true starting caliber point guard on the Miami Heat roster. I disagree. Ever since Lebron James came into the NBA I thought to myself Lebron should be playing point guard. At his size, speed, and athletic ability, it would create a mismatch against any team in the NBA. Many have touted his passing ability as his best attribute. I know in Cleveland he needed to carry the team and score a whole lot of points in order to win ball games, but now that he's in Miami, he has Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to feed the ball to. Adding to that, he is going to have Mike Miller, one of the best three point shooters in the league, out on the wing by himself when opposing teams send a double team to make up for the size mismatch Lebron has over "x" point guard. Obviously Erik Spoelstra needs to clear it with Lebron and make sure he would be willing to play point guard, but I really don't see any reason why he wouldn't.


It would benefit the team greatly and he has made it clear he wants to try and average a triple double next year. What better way for him to reach those numbers than to play point guard? Lebron would be this generation's Magic Johnson, if not even better (I still give Magic the advantage when it comes to intangibles such as leadership skills). It's not like this is a new idea either. The Chicago Bulls used Scottie Pippen as a point forward who would handle the ball for a large part of the game, especially towards the end of the Bulls dynasty when Michael Jordan needed someone to carry some of the ball handling load. The second wave of Bulls' championships featured Ron Harper as the starting point guard, and he was brought on more for his defense than his playmaking or ball handling ability. The backup point guard was Steve Kerr, another player who was really a specialist type and not starting caliber (Kerr retired with the highest three point shooting percentage in league history). Scottie Pippen's numbers reflect more of what Lebron's numbers should be if he played point guard (Pippen was really a triple threat player in that he could score, rebound, and distribute the ball as well as any point guard in the league). In today's league, players like the Lakers' Lamar Odom are used as point forwards as well.


Everyone has expected Lebron to be the next Michael Jordan. To me, he is more of a blend of Magic Johnson and Scottie Pippen. Sure he can score tons of points. He proved that in Cleveland. But in order for him to win championships here in Miami and for the Heat to become the dynasty he and the rest of the Heat stars envisioned when they all agreed to take less money and come to South Beach, scoring can't be his main focus. 

With this much talent around him, Lebron doesn't need to carry the scoring load.

LET LBJ PLAY PG