Pat Riley is driving the salt truck

[macbdog]

I would be blown away if Riley said anything differently, though. Guy is an alpha, he isn't going to roll over even if LBJ said nice stuff on the way out. He is jut 'getting a grip' of the situation.

 

[Tlyons]

Call me crazy but im still leaning toward lottery team for the Heat.

 

[gourimoko]

Call me crazy but im still leaning toward lottery team for the Heat.

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

 

[Nicky]

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

Assumptions will get me, every time.
Deng looks mid 30's+. Obviously that man has seen some things.

Wade, Deng, Bosh line-up isn't terrible as some will make it out to be. I always thought Bosh was great and this year, I think everyone will see it and actually acknowledge it. But Wade is on the decline, rapidly.

 

[Scholar]

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

Really depends on what version of Deng they get. The one who played here looked broken down and old due to his injury issues. If he's healthy now, and plays like the guy that played in Chicago, then he is clearly a good player. If not, then he's on his way down his version of the Dwayne Wade path of physical deterioration. The Thib's coaching style with excessive minutes has put a lot of mileage on Deng. Seems clear that his play here last season cost him a contract in the price range he was looking for.

 

[gourimoko]

Really depends on what version of Deng they get. The one who played here looked broken down and old due to his injury issues. If he's healthy now, and plays like the guy that played in Chicago, then he is clearly a good player. If not, then he's on his way down his version of the Dwayne Wade path of physical deterioration. The Thib's coaching style with excessive minutes has put a lot of mileage on Deng. Seems clear that his play here last season cost him a contract in the price range he was looking for.

I think a big part of Deng's unimpressive season was Mike Brown. I think Deng worked great under Thibs, minus the conditioning and wear issues. We'll see how he looks as a 2a or 2b option on offense. But defensively, they are solid at the 3 and 4.

 

[CardiacCavs]

Call me crazy but im still leaning toward lottery team for the Heat.

Yes....yes you are crazy. :chuckles:


They are still in the Eastern Conference. They still have Chris Bosh, who is a max player and an all star in his own right. They still have Wade, who even if he only plays 50 games, is still a great player. And they just added Deng who, while he may not have shined with us, still is a borderline all star. I really think they are a top 4 team in the East.

 

[PIP]

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

Oden is younger than LeBron too...Deng's age has no relevance here..

I agree Wade is the X factor...

Here's why the Heat will suck.. They have an average coach-- only one playmaker who is declining (should decline rapidly without LeBron)--Wade is the only player who can create for himself and others on that team.. Bosh does not create offense on the block, thus is not worth of a double team..

This is why Wade is key-- he's the only player that will command attention with the ball in his hands and I'm not quite sure he can handle an increased work load ??

 

[Walter White]

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

If Wade gets hurt (which he will certainly miss some games for whatever reason), it is basically a Bosh Raptors team. McRoberts is a decent role player, and Danny Granger is basically irrelevant. Birdman has to stay healthy for them to have a decent center. They still don't have a good PG. I'm not sure they would end up being a lottery team, but I could see them being a 6-8 seed.

 

[Tlyons]

Spo has had arguably atleast one top 3 player in his prime in the league every year he has been a head coach. One of those was the best player in the league by a mile(in his prime). He left in his prime. Spo is gonna have to work miracles . Wade and Deng( have injury history that might keep spo up at night) are past their prime. I'm sorry but Bosh will have to show me he is still in his. Thats only fair. I dont trust that bench as far as I can throw it. Who is gonna stop the bleeding witb an easy bucket like Lebron could? Lebron got Bosh a shit ton of open looks. The east can only get better then that shitshow last year.

Thats the bad (and there is plenty more).


And here is the positive side.

Bosh can be a number one option in this league. He hasn't done it in quite some time(with a small success rate in toronto) but he does have the talent. The heat could play a team oriented style of ball that runs through Bosh and sometimes Wade. Bosh getting to the line 10 times a game will be essential to that team being successful. Bosh can create double teams so Chalmers, Cole, Granger and Wade(?) can hit there open shots. Bosh is pretty good defending perimeter bigs. Chalmers and Cole are scrappy defenders. If Deng can still play above avg defense then you have a decent defensive team there which is something Spo can work with.



So....their core has two guys with a lot of miles AND health concerns. The number one option has toughness issues and is going to get fouled a lot. They lost the GOAT three point shooter and Lebron, who some believe could be GOAT in the same off season. I see at best a 6-8 seed. But probably 9-11.

 

[chrisrich91]

I think the Heat will end up being a tough out for us come playoff time. Not that they'll knock us off, but it'll be a rough and tumble little series. Bosh excelled as a first option in Toronto to a certain extent, but he's even better now and he's surrounded by guys who have won. Deng will return to form and be a nice option for them. Wade is a wild card. I really think we'll get these at some point in the playoffs.

 

[Zog]

I don't think the Heat are going to be a very good team next season. Wade is done, he missed over 1/3 of the season and still didn't have the health he needed in the Finals. They are still going to have all of the same flaws that they had before but without LeBron there to cover up for a lot of those flaws. Lack of playmakers, lack of rebounding, lack of shut-down defenders

- they still have no playmakers at PG. Chalmers is a bonehead, Cole just isn't a distributor, and Napier isn't going to be anything spectacular. Wade has declined significantly in terms of his playmaking ability, IMO. Who is going to initiate most of the offense? Bosh?
- they still will have the same rebounding problem. Deng/McRoberts/Bosh is not a good front line in terms of securing defensive rebounds
- Birdman/Bosh lineup solves the rebounding issue somewhat, but Birdman cannot play more than 20 mpg and be effective
- the 3 ball kept them in a lot of games last year. They're going to lose Allen, Jones, Lewis, Battier and LeBron. Allen and LeBron had 116 3PM each last year, most on the team. Next were Chalmers, Bosh, and Cole, who all benefited from LeBron getting them open looks. Battier, Lewis and Jones were 5th, 6th, and 8th in 3PM

If Wade can turn back the clock 3-4 years they then could be a decent team, but they didn't fix any of their flaws. LeBron carried that team last year in many facets of the game.

 

[kevin02]

You and I normally agree on these things... but I got the heat in the Top 4 in the East.

Luol Deng is not garbage, he's younger than LeBron James and a great defender. Bosh is now their number one option, and that's exactly when he is at his best. Their number three option is Dwyane Wade, and that's the x factor in all of this.

If Wade's condition continues to degenerate his health and subsequently his career, they'll be in the bottom half of the playoff bracket. If instead, he plays substantially more games and somehow makes even a slight recovery, I think they'll be in the top half. If they were in the Western Conference, I'd agree with you though. But the East is trash.

Cleveland
Chicago
Toronto
Washington
Atlanta
Indiana
Charlotte

I rank all those teams ahead of Miami. I could see New York and Miami fighting for the 8 seed.

 

[Spencer Hawes]

I think every team the Heat faces will have a "revenge" mind set. I bet they can't wait to get their hands on Chalmers, Cole, etc...and make them their bitches. It's gonna be fun to watch when that team implodes during the regular season.

 

[KilgoreTrout]

If Wade gets hurt (which he will certainly miss some games for whatever reason), it is basically a Bosh Raptors team. McRoberts is a decent role player, and Danny Granger is basically irrelevant. Birdman has to stay healthy for them to have a decent center. They still don't have a good PG. I'm not sure they would end up being a lottery team, but I could see them being a 6-8 seed.

But, but... Shabazz Napier!