Miami Heat: Is James Ennis their next superstar?

The announcement of LeBron James leaving the Miami Heat devastated many fans in the South Florida community. They have mixed feelings of emotions including pain, anguish, and rage.

However, Miami Heat fans have adjusted well and are currently onto the emotion of acceptance. Coming with this emotion is the ability to look logically at the roster the Miami Heat have and appreciating the players that are donning the Heat jersey this season.

Thankfully, not only did the Heat retain players such as Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Chris Andersen, they also managed to infuse new players within their system. The new blood in the Heat organization are players who will play a crucial role for the Heat’s success this season.

One of these players is James Ennis.

To most casual fans, Ennis is relatively unknown. Playing his collegiate career at Long Beach State, the 6’7″ forward helped his 49ers win the Big West Championship and later on was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the 2013 NBA Draft. After his draft rights were traded to the Heat, Ennis was sent to play for the Miami Heat’s Developmental Team, the Sioux Falls Skyforce.

Shortly after Ennis signed a contract to play in Australia (averaging 21.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists while shooting nearly 47 percent) he dominated the competition and placed third in MVP voting. Subsequently, he “took his talents to Puerto Rico” playing in the Baloncesto Superior Nacional league and after joined the Miami Heat.

To put it mildly, Ennis’ career has gained a bunch of frequent flyer miles as he has traveled amongst different states and countries for his hoop dreams.

During this summer in the NBA Orlando Summer League he put up 15.5 points a game while shooting 51 percent from the field.

These are the types of players that Pat Riley loves.

The Heat have a culture of drafting and developing players who were overlooked and undervalued. An elite example of this is Heat legend Udonis Haslem (the organization needs to retire his jersey).

The former Florida Gator was undrafted due to his playing weight and had to play overseas. Riley took a gamble with him and was dead on correct. Because of the belief in Haslem, the Heat franchise ultimately won a championship. If it had not been for the outstanding defense Udonis Haslem played on Dirk Nowitzki in the 2006 NBA Finals, the series would have turned out differently.

Similar to Haslem, James Ennis will be intriguing to watch since on a nightly basis Heat fans will grow accustomed to seeing him play. With the ability of Wade starting to dwindle down and the lack of youth and athleticism that the Heat do not have, Ennis will likely be a nice spark plug off of the bench. Due to the depth the Heat have at his position Ennis will be in competition for minutes with Danny Granger and Luol Deng.

Thankfully, with his size he can also slide over and play the shooting guard position which will give him more of an opportunity to play sooner rather than later.

To say that Ennis can have an impact such as Haslem is ludicrous. Although, is it too farfetched to say that Ennis can thrive as a role player off of the bench substituting for Wade and possibly starting on nights that Wade will be resting? Not at all.

The Heat franchise has been built off players who have seasoning and can step into a role and fulfill the needs of the team. Due to the fact that Ennis has played in so many different leagues and situations, he will be a prime example of hardwork for the Heat. Ennis has had to fight every step of the way in his career.

This season we will see, and boy are people in Miami anxious to see how this development project paid dividends.

Welcome James Ennis, to the Heat Nation.