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Derek Fisher to meet with Pat Riley in Miami

Jul 9, 2010, 10:25 PM EDT

25 Comments

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According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN Los Angeles, free agent point guard Derek Fisher will meet with Heat president Pat Riley on Saturday. 
It’s clear what Fisher has to offer the Heat. Fisher is a veteran presence with championship experience, he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective, he plays hard, and he’s at the point of his career where the money doesn’t really matter to him. 
What isn’t as clear is what the Heat would have to offer Fisher. Fisher already plays for the defending champs. He’s a hero in Los Angeles, and joining Miami would take something away from his stratospheric approval rating in the city of angels. He’s playing for Phil Jackson in an offense designed to hide his weaknesses. 
The impetus for Fisher’s meeting with Riley is likely that Lakers and Fisher are reportedly going back and forth on contract negotiations; sources have informed ProBasketballTalk Fisher and his agent want a 2-year contract worth $10 million, but the Lakers have only offered Fisher a 1-year contract worth $2.5 million. Talks are ongoing.
Between that and the Lakers’ signing of Steve Blake this off-season, it’s easy to see why Fisher may be considering his options this off-season, but I doubt this is anything more than a attempt for Fisher and his camp to get some leverage over the Lakers — it’s not like the Heat have much cap space to make Fisher a bigger offer. 
The idea of playing an important role on a team that features Bosh, Wade, and James has to be an intriguing one for any veteran, but Fisher would be better off staying with the team he’s won five championships with. 
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  1. lakerade - Jul 9, 2010 at 10:38 PM

    Hey, I like the way you’re thinkin, but he only gets that 6th ring if he stays, heh. No way he gives up a chance to double threepeat, he just needs time to accept the pay cut. I hope. Riley’s capable of anything right now…

  2. George - Jul 9, 2010 at 11:02 PM

    Tell Riley to arrange for Derek Fisher and his family meet with the Director of UM’s Bascom Palmer Eye Institute. Fisher moved back to LA so his child could get better eye care. BPEI is the top eye institute in the country.

  3. DugoutNut - Jul 9, 2010 at 11:42 PM

    On the list of things that are not going to happen……..
    Waking up tomorrow with two suns in the eastern sky.
    .
    Rush Limbaugh voting Democrat.
    Derek Fisher to the Heat.

  4. Tom Corbin - Jul 10, 2010 at 12:14 AM

    Who cares?

  5. Kirk - Jul 10, 2010 at 1:51 AM

    Steve Blake signing keeping Derek Fisher awake at nite in your parallel universe ? Why not tell us Kobe’s worried for his job too !

  6. Drew - Jul 10, 2010 at 2:06 AM

    Who is this dude plastered all over these message boards stating “Who cares?”? Obviously, you care enough to keep coming on here and posting frequently. WE care and we like talking about it.
    I agree with the author, Fisher is best suited in the comfortable confines of the triangle offense in LA with the team he’s accustomed to and a role he can play to hide his weaknesses. The idea of uprooting your family and taking them across the country has to be an issue too.

  7. kwc - Jul 10, 2010 at 2:50 AM

    “and he’s at the point of his career where the money doesn’t really matter to him.” – well, if it’s not about money then he’d re-sign for less money with LA. This kind of comment reveals nonsensical reporting. Of course, he’s probably hoping to play off the leverage of Miami’s supposed interest. Why else risk being hated for going to Miami?

  8. DK Kevy Kev - Jul 10, 2010 at 4:10 AM

    But Fisher went to LA to be near his ill daughter. He got released by his old team and signed with the Lakers. It was fishy then and it’s still fishy. But that’s the NBA.

  9. Mark R - Jul 10, 2010 at 4:40 AM

    What did they say about Kobe after the first 3 championships – “Yeah, but can he win one without Shaq?”
    He went a few years without one. Note that Derek Fisher left the Lakers during this time, and then returned.
    The question now should be, “Yeah, but can he win one without Derek Fisher?” He hasn’t yet.
    Maybe Derek Fisher wants to go to Miami so they can beat Kobe. Then Derek will have 6 rings, and Kobe will only have 5.
    I am a big Derek Fisher fan, and wish him the best – in LA or Miami.

  10. Anonymous - Jul 10, 2010 at 7:58 AM

    Tom Corbin
    PERFECTLY said.

  11. Cire Lien - Jul 10, 2010 at 7:59 AM

    Dude. Didn’t I read the same comment from you on Thursday when you included Lebron joining the Heat as something that wasn’t going to happen. Uh – think your crystal ball may have a crack in it.

  12. hnirobert - Jul 10, 2010 at 8:01 AM

    As long as there’s room for UD, this move will be good. They need some solid veterans on the team

  13. No I in TEAM - Jul 10, 2010 at 8:05 AM

    How’s this for a three-peat
    Who cares
    Who cares
    Who cares.

  14. Kako - Jul 10, 2010 at 8:58 AM

    The Ultimate band wagon player.

  15. Omnius - Jul 10, 2010 at 9:48 AM

    The author Jon Krolik missed the most important negotiating point that Derek Fisher is concerned about, being close to a good doctor to ensure that his daughter’s eye cancer gets cured. Geez these sports pundits just don’t do their homework, no wonder they’re so stupid about calling LeBoring James the King when all he is is the King of Choke. The whole reason Derek Fisher came back to the Lakers was to get good medical care for his daughter, well that and playing with Kobe and the Lakers again so he had a good chance of winning more rings. I hope the Lakers can resign Fisher as he works well with Kobe and the team despite his age. Would be nice if the Lakers could get a really good point guard to start with Fisher coming off the bench with Odom for better bench punch. Lakers will Threepeat next year!

  16. Anonymous - Jul 10, 2010 at 10:04 AM

    Utah let Fisher go when his daughter was sick. Fish said he wanted to go to the east coast where the best docotrs were, then he stabbed their back and went back to the Lakers. Thats the facts…

  17. Fishhead - Jul 10, 2010 at 11:12 AM

    Derek Fisher has more integrity than anyone in the NBA. I have watched him from the time he was playing high school basketball. Fish will base his final decision on what is best for him and his family, especially his daughter. He would bring balance to the egos in Miami but the Lakers best chance for the “three peat” is to resign him. As pointed out earlier, how many rings does Kobe have without Fish, NONE!

  18. MJ - Jul 10, 2010 at 12:18 PM

    I like DFish, but this is all about money and should be. He is at the point in his career where he only has a few years left to play. An extra million here and there could be really important to him. With the 35 million or so he has made in the last seven years most of us could live like Kings, but who knows how athletes spend their money. To many of them blow it and wind up back at the beginning. I don’t think any team will offer Derek any more than 2.5 a year, but if they do and he decides to take it, Goodbye and Good Luck. To Tom and Anon and No One, up yours. Now do you care.

  19. help that kid - Jul 10, 2010 at 12:20 PM

    I think Fish has to do what is best for him. Surely it’s a slap in the face to hire Blake for more money (who is yet to be proven in the system that Jackson uses) than to hire back the guy who actually helped you win all those rings.
    Where do you think all that money is going to go to? Fisher wants more cars and houses or he wants to help his daughter?
    Any way I say the Heat should sign Fisher and also throw in some vagina. There is max vagina in South Beach. Or they could do a sign and trade for Fisher and max vagina.

  20. help that kid - Jul 10, 2010 at 12:25 PM

    I think Fish has to do what is best for him. Surely it’s a slap in the face to hire Blake for more money (who is yet to be proven in the system that Jackson uses) than to hire back the guy who actually helped you win all those rings.
    Where do you think all that money is going to go to? Fisher wants more cars and houses or he wants to help his daughter?
    Any way I say the Heat should sign Fisher and also throw in some vagina. There is max vagina in South Beach. Or they could do a sign and trade for Fisher and max vagina.

  21. Funny Logic - Jul 10, 2010 at 12:36 PM

    It’s so funny to me how fast every comment thread turns to hatorade on Kobe. Can he win one without Shaq? Can he win one without DFish? Please. Can these people win without him? Shaq and DWade was a good combo for Shaq to get the one ring at a perfect timing. But Shaq couldn’t win with Nash. Shaq couldn’t even win with “King” James.
    Can Fisher win one without Kobe? I don’t remember Utah getting it done with him in town.
    Kobe is a special player in that he has a will to win like no one else in the game right now. Frankly, we haven’t seen that must win drive since Jordan left the court. Period.
    Kobe will win, no matter what because he wants it more. Definitely more than Lebron. Fish is trying to bargain for the best deal possible, and there is nothing wrong with that. But trying to act like the only reason Kobe has rings is because of Derek Fisher…
    Get Real.

  22. Jimee Johnson - Jul 10, 2010 at 1:08 PM

    If Fisher leaves Smell-A, Kobe will be exposed! Lebron and Bosch will win it all if Miami gets him. Hope it happens.

  23. jstew - Jul 10, 2010 at 1:09 PM

    Please get your facts straight. Fisher said that he needed to be in either LA or New York to get cancer treatment for his daughter. New York had no interest in him so he signed for the Lakers and took a huge cut in pay.

  24. lakerfan - Jul 10, 2010 at 8:58 PM

    all of la and all of the kobe fans

  25. LAKERaid - Jul 11, 2010 at 2:50 PM

    At least kobe didn’t have to go to a team with two other allstars to Win a championship. At least kobe has some form of loyalty. Kobe don’t need to be someone’s b!tch to Win a ring. Kobe didn’t let down the city that made him king and abandon them. Fish can go, maybe most of you didn’t watch last season but he is strictly a bench player.

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