Trade talks involving Philadelphia 76ers guard Andre Miller have been heating up as of late.
First of all, this is a great position for the 76ers to be in. They’re not desperate to get rid of Andre Miller by any means. They’re simply entertaining offers because he’s a wanted commodity right now.
A lot of casual fans don’t realize how valuable of a player that Andre Miller is. They’re accustomed to seeing flashy passing and high flying dunks. That’s not what Andre Miller is about. What he is is a steady veteran guard who is more than capable of running an offense. In fact, if you’re talking about “pure” point guards, he ranks right behind Steve Nash and Jason Kidd. For these guys, passing isn’t just the first option. It’s not just the second option. It’s also the third option. Scoring comes in dead last on their priority list.
The two biggest suitors for Andre Miller right now appear to be the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat.
For the Cavaliers, Andre Miller would relieve LeBron James of quite a bit of the ballhandling duties. It would allow him to roam more often on the offensive side to exploit mismatches. If Andre Miller was more capable of shooting, then this trade would be perfect. LeBron James should still do some playmaking and ballhandling because very few forwards can defend him when he’s doing that. However, he would need a sharpshooting guard to kick it out to.
The Miami Heat realize how Andre Miller would be more valuable on a veteran team like their’s than he is on a young team like the 76ers. With Dwayne Wade, Ricky Davis, and Shaquille O’Neal, scoring is the last thing that the team would ask of Andre Miller. Plus, with that many options on offense, Andre Miller should be able to get in 10 assists nightly.
There’s also a few other unnamed teams that are interested in Andre Miller. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes.