Miami Heat: Does Luol Deng Have To Replace LeBron James?

In 2003, one player was widely recognized as the top high school prospect in the nation, perhaps destined to be a once-in-a-lifetime athlete that could impact basketball for years to come. Of course, the analysis turned out to be spot-on, as they were talking about LeBron James, the four-time Most Valuable Player of the NBA that may very well be considered one of its greatest all-time players.

The second-rated prospect in 2003 would go on to a fine professional career as well, a lanky athlete that had made is way to a New Jersey high school by way of England after escaping his war-torn homeland in Africa.

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For 12 years,

has always found himself trapped in the dark of James’ inescapable shadow.

The season starts soon for the Miami Heat and while every team has glaring holes, perhaps none is larger than the one made by James following his decision to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers. To its credit, Miami’s front office rebounded as well as can be expected and have retooled (not rebuilt) their team to remain in contention in the Eastern Conference.

The key pieces to this effort are Chris Bosh, whose max-level contract forces him to reclaim a leadership role for the first time in years, and Dwyane Wade, the aging superstar who will address questions about his health and productivity until the day he retires as a self-proclaimed “Heat Lifer.”

And, once again, Deng finds himself in that all-too-familiar position of being compared to one of the greatest singular talents of this generation.

The only catch? Neither the team or Deng himself have any expectations of doing the impossible and replacing James.

As Deng’s Chicago-based agent Ron Shade explained immediately after his client agreed to join Miami, the Heat has “seen Lu at his best moments and his worst moments, and I think they understand that while Lu isn’t going to fill in for LeBron, Lu can step in and replace some of the things that LeBron did. They’re not looking for Lu to be LeBron.”

One gets a sense that Shade was trying a little too hard, overselling the point that Deng won’t – or can’t – replace James. But that doesn’t obscure Miami’s realistic expectations of Deng where he can be a very valuable complementary piece to Bosh and Wade.

If nothing else, there is at least one area where Deng is likely to excel above James and that is in the area of effort and determination. There were times during the previous season where James was clearly not invested. A lazy pass here, a missed rotation there … almost as if expecting his teammates to pick up the slack.

In truth, they never did and that, more than anything, precipitated James’ feel-good return to “The Land.”

James impact on Miami’s upcoming season, while on the surface seems devastating, could be a case of addition by subtraction. Perhaps James’ greatest contribution is that he makes things so much easier for the rest of his teammates; he is the giant-sized statistical cushion that prevents them from falling.

Unable to rely on him any further, the Heat – both those who remained and newly-added players like Deng and Josh McRoberts – must find a way to play better.

Shade, again, gives us some insight that Miami’s coaching staff recognizes this:

"“…that means they (Miami) know Chris (Bosh) is going to have to be better, Dwyane (Wade) is going to have to be better and Lu can be better. I think that’s the main thing that they see, that the weight is going to be evenly distributed between those three guys and looking forward to the camaraderie that they can build. The truth of the matter is they still can be a contender in the East.”"

Therein lies the irony, although it won’t be one seen by the average fan. The spoon-fed narrative will follow “The Man From Sudan” all season, the looming question of how he can possibly replace James. But the truth is he can’t, nor should even try, and that might wind up making Miami a better, more cohesive team than they have been in years

By sharing the spotlight in Miami, this season represents Deng’s best chance to finally step out of James’ shadow.