5 Reasons the Heat Will Surpass Expectations in 2014-15

With the departure of LeBron James along with the age of Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade, many have written off the new-look Miami Heat as serious championship contenders for the upcoming NBA season. While others still believe the Heat are an easy top 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, not one has picked Miami to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy this coming June. Not only do the Heat still have Heat Lifer Dwyane Wade and perennial All-Star big man Chris Bosh, but they still have championship pedigree. Expect Miami to make some noise this year, and here are the reasons as to why.

5. Championship Experience and Motivation

Experience always bids well for players, because no matter the situation, they’ve been there before. Only one short year ago, Miami was facing a five point deficit with just 28 seconds remaining against the San Antonio Spurs and managed to pull back and even the series, eventually winning a second consecutive championship after a masterful game 7. Not only do they have experience, but motivation on their side as well. The Heat are coming off arguably one of the worst beat-down in NBA Finals history, and there’s no better player to bounce back from a low point than Dwyane Wade.

4. Savvy Veterans Coming Off the Bench/Off season Acquisitions

While the Heat were unable to land free agent G Kyle Lowry this past off season, they did make a nice splash by signing Luol Deng, who is essentially their “LeBron replacement”. Deng is a versatile two-way player, an elite wing defender and a capable scorer, averaging 16.0 points for his career. The signings of Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger were pleasant to the ears, as everyone in South Florida is now hoping Granger can regain his pre-injury form. While rookie Shabazz Napier is/will experience growing pains, adding him to back up Chalmers and possible Norris Cole was no move to bat your eye at.

3. Pat Riley

The Godfather, as some call him. Riley is a 9 time NBA champion as a player, executive and coach, and has shown an incredible ability to keep a team afloat the past several years. While he does not have the luxury of having the best player in basketball at his disposal to make pitches, Riley knows what he’s doing, and there is no one that can not deny that.  There has been many times in the past when a Riley led team proved the doubters wrong and became forces in the league and at times minus a star the likes of the departed James.

2. The Resurgence of Chris Bosh

While playing the role of “third wheel” the past four seasons, many now have doubts of Bosh’s ability to be a legit first option. Many forget that Bosh averaged 24 and 10 during his final season in Toronto, and was a force to be reckoned with at the power forward position. With increased touches and shots this season, there should be no reason Bosh can’t return to his 20 & 10 form. He has also developed a very reliable three-point shot, and a much improved defender.

1. The Return of “Flash”

Ah, now to the good part. After a sub-par performance in the NBA Finals, one which Wade looked heavy and slow, there are few people outside of Florida who believe he can still carry a franchise. While Wade is on the back-end of his prime(he’s 32, not 36), he’s still shown numerous flashes of “Vintage D-Wade” during the Big 3 era. Many forget that with Wade as the first option, the Heat were unable to reach the promise land in 2011, prompting him to take a step back and hand the reigns to LeBron James. Only four years ago. Wade averaged 30.2 points, 7.5 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 2.2 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. While it’s a debate whether he should’ve been named MVP or not, he arguably had the best season of any player in the league that year. Now, with the increased doubt, scrutiny, and criticism, expect to see the old Dwyane Wade back. Miami is his city, his team again. Dwyane also has taken on a version of the paleo diet, and has slimmed down in the process, easing the load off his knees. Through 11 seasons, Wade has yet to let down the fans of South Florida(when able to play), and don’t expect him to start now.

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Miami Heat 2013-14 Team Review

Result and why:

After dominating the Eastern Conference in the first three seasons of the Big Three’s existence, the Heat’s 54-28 record had them playing second fiddle to the Indiana Pacers, who from the start of the season were intent on topping the Eastern Conference.

Stephenson tried, and failed,
to rattle the Heat

However, when it came to the Playoffs, the Pacers’ relative inexperience compared to Miami, coupled with their episodes of immaturity, in particular from Lance Stephenson, saw them lose to Miami in six games, though it could have easily taken fewer games.

The Heat’s bid to become just the fourth franchise in NBA history to three-point would eventually come up short, with a disappointing loss in five games to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. Miami was outclassed for much of the series, with their win being a slender two point margin of victory, compared to the Spurs, who won by 15 points or more in the other four games.

Standout star:

LeBron James was once again the standout player for the Heat last season. Once again he put up MVP worthy numbers, and if Kevin Durant had not have had such an impressive season he would have surely won the award for the third straight season. In 77 regular season games, LeBron averaged numbers of 27.1 points, while shooting a career best 56.7% from the field, to go along with 6.9 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals per game.

James scored a Heat record
61 points against Charlotte

With Dwyane Wade sitting out of 28 regular season games to rest his ailing knee, this put the onus even more on LeBron to lead his team to victory, and he duly delivered. This was most evident in Miami’s game against Charlotte; with Wade missing, LeBron erupted for a career high and Miami Heat record of 61 points, leading his team to a resounding victory. This was made even more impressive due to the fact that he was playing with a protective mask on his face due to him having a broken nose.

James’ stats did not deviate much in the Playoffs, and had his team gone on to win the Finals he would have surely been named Finals MVP for a third successive season. Unfortunately, his teammates were somewhat hit-and-miss, and a complete lack of bench production meant that even LeBron’s heroics could not see Miami through to the finish line.

Offseason needs:

For Miami to make any major progress during this offseason and, in particular, the upcoming free agency period, they needed their Big Three to all opt out of their contracts, which they have done. Now, before throwing your computer out of the window in disgust, consider this:

Can Miami keep the Big 3 together?

If James, Wade and Bosh had all opted in to their contracts, Miami would be paying them a combined total of around $62 million. With Norris Cole ($2.1 million) the only player with a guaranteed contracted for next season after Udonis Haslem opted out of his contract, this would have brought Miami’s total salary being paid next season to approximately $64 million. The salary cap for next season is expected to be $62.1 million, with the luxury tax set at $75.7million, which would not have left Miami much room to sign another eight players or so.

Reports have surfaced in the last few days stating that James is seeking a max deal to stay in Miami. If the Heat were to offer this, they would need Bosh and Wade to take a significant pay cut, something that they could be willing to do. James recently met for dinner with Bosh, Wade and Haslem to discuss their options, and his teammates reportedly understand LeBron’s wish to secure a max contract.

If Bosh takes the $15 million-a-year contract he is reportedly looking for, and if Wade signs for somewhere in the region of $12 million, then signing LeBron to a max deal and still leaving cap space to sign players to put around them would still be possible.

Lowry could be the playmaker
the Heat have been looking for

If the Heat were to achieve this, the next step for them should be to aggressively chase a ball handler during free agency. Kyle Lowry has been linked heavily with the South Beach team in recent weeks, and he would fit the bill perfectly. Miami are in desperate need of a player who can run the offense so that it does not always have to run through James and Wade.

Lowry earned over $6 million last season, and could easily command the same amount, if not more, in free agency. However, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility to entice him into taking less money to join the Big Three and earn his first NBA Championship ring.

If the Heat is able to make these signings, the next issue they must address is improving their options on the bench. Miami’s substitutes were collectively among the oldest in the league, and it showed last season. They looked weary and failed to produce all too often, leaving Miami’s starting group under a lot of pressure to perform.

Team outlook:

At the time of writing the future is still very uncertain for Miami. We are just hours away from the free agency period starting, and it will most likely be at least a few days before any signings are made.

Until such a time that signings can be finalized, it is hard to predict how a team will fare in the upcoming season, even more so when in Norris Cole, Miami only has one player signed to a guaranteed contract for next season, although the signing of rookie Shabazz Napier will soon take that total to two.

However, when you take into consideration what Pat Riley has been able to accomplish in the past, such as bringing Bosh and James to Miami to team up with Wade, it would be foolish not to consider the Heat as once again a leading contender for the Eastern Conference title, and perhaps even the NBA title.

For now, all Miami fans can do is sit back and let the madness unfold.

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