This offseason could have been a lot worse for the Miami Heat. After losing LeBron James, it seemed as if the four-year party in South Beach was over and Dwyane Wade’s friends were all about to leave.
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However, Pat Riley managed to tie off the wound by re-signing Chris Bosh and adding Luol Deng, Danny Granger and Josh McRoberts. The Heat will look much different this season, but Alex Kennedy of basketballinsiders.com says the team boasts enough star power and is coached well enough to remain competitive in the Eastern Conference.
"Even without James, Miami still has star power with Bosh, Wade and Deng as well as one of the best head coaches in the NBA in Spoelstra. Last year’s stats may no longer be as relevant since James is gone, but it’s worth noting that the HEAT were one of the best teams on both ends of the court last season. On offense, they averaged 102.2 points per game (12th in the NBA) and shot 50.1 percent from the field (first in the NBA). On defense, they allowed just 97.4 points per game (fifth in the NBA) and forced 15.6 turnovers per game (third in the NBA). Losing James will hurt on both ends, but this is still a talented team with top-notch coaching, so don’t expect a huge drop off like we’ve from some teams that lost their best player."
Where Miami easily won the Southeast Division in years past, it will much more competitive this time with the Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets all coming back improved.
Those are all young teams without much playoff experience save for Paul Pierce in Washington. Even if the Heat don’t win the division, they have an advantage come playoff time due to their star power, experience and coaching.
The Heat aren’t the favorites in the East anymore, not by a long shot, but you can’t count them out completely either.
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