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Miami Heat Should Avoid Tanking

ByChristopher Cruz|
Mar 13, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) looks on during their defeat by the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Heat 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2015; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat shooting guard Dwyane Wade (3) looks on during their defeat by the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Raptors beat the Heat 102-92. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Miami Heat should avoid “tanking” as much as possible. That is, they should avoid packing it in for the rest of the season. Tanking is one of those strategies that many have spoken of as a way forward. They presume that if their team tanks, then their respective team will be able to score a high draft pick.

So the logic goes, if a team ends up in the middle of the pack that team is going to continue in mediocrity without an upward advancement.

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But the logic has a flaw, in that it is rare for teams to completely be transformed through the draft. Very few teams have been able to do it, rendering the “tanking” policy a bad one. The Heat have made it seem as though they aren’t interested in making the playoffs however. They have done everything in their power to lose to teams that they should beat.

The Heat lost to the Boston Celtics, where Hassan Whiteside elbowed Kelly Olynyk and got kicked out for the rest of the game. They lost to the Toronto Raptors. Before playing the Heat, the Raptors had gone 1-9 in the previous 10 games. The Raptors beat the Heat, and then lost to the Portland Trail Blazers.

What is troubling about this specific movement is the ways that fans give up on teams now as opposed to the ways they have rooted teams on in the past. Right now, there is an all or nothing sentiment that is pervasive amongst the NBA culture. Either a team is poised to win the championship or it should rely on the draft for next year.

Can’t a team just be a playoff team, and “compete” for a championship? Sometimes, the competing is just as good as being poised to win. Realistically, only one team can win the championship, and only three or four teams are poised to win. The great thing about the NBA is that teams outside of those three or four can surprise you.

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    • It is possible that a low seed makes it to the NBA Finals, or that a low seed makes it to the conference finals. The Heat are good enough to be one of those teams. You might see them as a team that can’t scrounge up the wins they need to in order to make noise in the league, but they are so much better.

    Injuries have killed them this year, preventing them from reaching the kind of potential that they have.

    But although remaining healthy is the key to being successful in the latter part of the season, the Heat are good enough to sneak into the playoffs and make noise. With Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Andersen and Hassan Whiteside, you have the makings of a pretty good lineup. That is one that can challenge most other lineups in the East.

    Keep in mind, that the Heat have already beaten many of the best teams in the East with the exception of the Atlanta Hawks.

    So keep an eye on Miami.

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