Miami Heat: Is Udonis Haslem Being Phased Out?

It was a sad sight last season, watching the hometown star sit at the end of the bench, with as much chance of entering the game as you or me.

Udonis Haslem, who played at Miami Senior High School, then the University of Florida and who has spent his entire NBA career with one team was now the regular recipient of a “DNP-CD.”

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Haslem has battled injuries over the last few seasons, the result of 10-plus seasons of sacrificing your heart, body and soul; the consummate #HeatLifer. Last season, he found himself part of a platoon of revolving players at the power forward position, none of which was particularly effective; Haslem, the newly retired

Shane Battier

, and

Rashard Lewis

, whose recently discovered knee injury may end his once-promising career.

With Battier and Lewis out of the picture, you would think that “U.D.” might get a chance to prove his worth again to the Miami Heat faithful.

Instead, according to recent reports, it appears that Haslem may be pushed further down the rotation, kept in mothballs until the rare moment he might have an impact.

Ira Winderman, the Heat beat reporter for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, explained that head coach Erik Spoelstra will likely be committed to smaller lineups (or “small ball”) which will feature swing players in atypical power positions:

"“…Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts are your starting power players, and with Pat Riley already talking about Granger getting time in the power rotation, that (small ball) again appears to be the direction. And it’s not as if there is much of a Plan B, with Chris Andersen at an age where limited minutes are the preferred approach, and with Udonis Haslem having been marginalized in recent seasons.”"

In another report, Winderman further detailed how Haslem’s particular set of skills have virtually forced him out of the lineup:

"“The playing style and roster in recent years did not exactly set up well for Haslem, especially with LeBron (James) able to provide many of the intangibles previously provided by Udonis. Also, Haslem has lacked lift since his foot injury, a Lisfranc fracture, in Memphis four years ago. It will be curious to see how much, or how little, Haslem plays, considering Chris Bosh, Josh McRoberts and Chris Andersen all set up ahead of him in the power rotation. In the end, it likely will come down to Haslem’s ability to defend opposing centers, in the way he stepped up against Roy Hibbert.”"

Winderman’s comments about Haslem’s health set up an interesting point; UD will never be fully healthy again and as a result, will likely never be as effective. Last season will probably have set the template for his playing time, when he played in just 46 games (only starting 18) and averaged a career-low 14 minutes per game. With less time came the production to match, and Haslem only averaged 3.8 points and as many rebounds per game, both career lows.

Truthfully, if not for his semi-resurgence against Hibbert, even those numbers would have been lower. But, in a strange way, this seems to symbolize Haslem perfectly, a microcosmic example of his whole career.

Never caring about statistics, he finds a way to contribute in any way possible. In this case, it’s again sacrificing himself to guard a player that is physically superior in many ways.

We’ve seen the best of Haslem and we’re not likely to see it again. At his peak, he was persistent, ferocious and dependable. He endeared himself to Miami fans, was loathed by opposing fanbases and he was always sporting the mouthpiece that dangled precariously from the corners of his sneering mouth.

It’s a sight that will be less and less frequent over the next two years of his recently-signed contract (the third time in his career that Haslem has re-signed with Miami and left millions on the table to do so).

But whenever he does enter, he’ll always do whatever he his aging body lets him, driven by an indomitable will to help his team succeed.

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