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Both the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel report the Heat have reached agreement on a two-year contract for mystical swingman Dorell Wright, pictured here discussing dinner plans with Pat Riley. Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel indicates Wright will make about $2.9 million this year, and roughly the same in 2009-10.That's not wild money in any sense of the word ... it's half the NBA average salary. So is Wright half an NBA average player? He can be better than that, though he's barely shown it over the past two seasons. He's now had two fair chances with the Heat: he saw 20 minutes per game in 2006-07 (he did nothing with those minutes) and 25 minutes/game in 2007-08 (he did almost nothing). One would assume he'll have a shot for similar minutes under Erik Spoelstra, though Dwyane Wade's health, Michael Beasley's versatility and Yakhouba Diawara's (yes I said Yakhouba Diawara!) presence could shrink those.
Wright has two key abilities: he's one of the best rebounders under 6'8 in the entire league (he's a better boarder than some 7-foot power forwards) and he blocks an inordinate amount of shots for a glorified two-guard. He's an awfully limited scorer who almost never seems to know what to do with the ball, he has completely abandoned his jumper a la Jason Kidd -- he's basically invisible on offense. It's hard for even bench players to survive in today's NBA with those limitations. It's a scorer's game, and Wright really cannot score.
But if ... if Wright can get a dollop of confidence in his game -- maybe from Spoelstra, who has been on the bench Wright's entire career -- he can turn into an average or slightly below-average scorer. Depending on the Heat's moves, he could be paired with able shooter Udonis Haslem or potential elite scorer Beasley in the second unit. Having a bigger dog there every night could relieve the pressure and get Wright the space he needs. We assume he hits open shots in practice. Transferring that ability to the game is the only way Wright can finally get past the "potential" tag and become an actual NBA player. We wish him luck.
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