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Miami Heat president/coach Pat Riley (lose one of the titles, will ya, Pat?) has his work cut out for him this offseason; besides dealing with the NBA draft this summer, he also has to deal with the contracts sitting in front of him.? Besides the obvious need for upgrades at point guard and center, he perhaps has his biggest challenge facing him right now:?retaining the services of Shawn Marion.? According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald and confirmed by Marion, Marion stated that he is looking for an extension from the Heat; as a matter of fact, Marion is having his agent, Dan Fegan, request one this summer.? There’s a bit of a problem: Miami isn’t exactly in the financial shape they need to be in as they are looking for big salary cap space for 2009.

As it is, very few teams in the NBA have the cap space for a contract of Marion’s size, so one can expect that Marion won’t opt out of the last year of his deal – which is worth $17.4 million – although Marion hasn’t specifically said anything one way or another.? Let’s say that Marion does in fact?accept a $10 million a year salary (I know I would) and the Heat are able to trade either Mark Blount or Udonis Haslem (Blount would be?more likely of the two).? Assuming that was to happen, all of a sudden, Miami could be in line financially to afford a top free agent in 2009; you can safely assume that Marion will not approve a pay cut.?

But according to some insiders in the league, Marion’s current value is too rich for the vast majority of the league’s teams, so the $10 million annual figure is more in line to what his worth would be to most teams.? Riley’s take about Marion’s demands?? I wouldn’t say he is saying it directly, but as he told the Herald, “We have to create a model that he has to see this is the only model that can work long-term for himself and also make this team better.”? On the other hand, Marion, in typical player-speak, says that he wants a commitment from the Heat.? There’s a problem there, Shawn.? While it is nice you want a commitment from the team, they more than likely will not make a $17 million commitment.? So get in the real world and take your $10 million a year and shut up.? Your days of making $17 million a year are for all intents and purposes are over.? I’m sure that played no small part in why Phoenix dealt you.? Certainly there are free agents out there who’d love to be in your predicament, so just swallow your pride and help the Heat revisit the postseason.? You have some of the parts to make that happen (Dwyane Wade, Udonis Haslem come to mind), not to mention a promising draft crop this year.