On paper, the Miami Heat have one of the nicest looking rosters in the entire Eastern Conference. They locked in Goran Dragic on a five-year, $90 million deal, they brought Dwyane Wade back for a year, Luol Deng surprisingly opted in, Chris Bosh will be healthy and Hassan Whiteside is ready for his breakout season.
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With Mario Chalmers and Josh McRoberts, not to mention new additions Gerald Green, Amar’e Stoudemire and rookie Justise Winslow, the Heat also have some respectable depth to work with. The question is, will this hodgepodge roster that looks so impressive on paper actually result in a deep postseason run?
And, more importantly, will Pat Riley‘s squad ever have a promising title window as currently constructed?
It may not seem like it, but the top of the Eastern Conference is getting a little better. The Toronto Raptors added a valuable 3-and-D threat in DeMarre Carroll, the Washington Wizards are poised to move on despite Paul Pierce‘s departure, the Atlanta Hawks will still be competitive even without Carroll and the Milwaukee Bucks have a young, talented team that added Greg Monroe and will be a threat in the East for years to come.
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Unfortunately, as currently constructed, no one in the conference — not even Riley’s revamped Heat — holds a candle to the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are almost a certain bet to be representing the East in the 2016 NBA Finals. In fact, with a trio of LeBron James (30), Kevin Love (26) and Kyrie Irving (22), the Cavs are probably the favorites in the East for years to come.
Will the Heat ever be able to challenge King James’ reign out East? Or will they have to wait until his prime is over and done with?
If that’s the case, Miami may not be winning a title in the post-LeBron era anytime soon. Even though Miami has a tremendous roster in theory, it’s skewed more toward veteran experience than it is toward youth. That’s not a bad thing in and of itself, but there might not be enough talent on this roster to seriously challenge the star-studded Cavs.
Dragic is on a max deal and is only one year removed from his Third Team All-NBA selection, but he’s also 29 years old already. Wade is 33, he’s only on a one-year deal, and even if he remains in Miami for the rest of his career, how many good/healthy years does he have left? One or two, at most?
Then there’s Deng, whose game has already begun to trend downward at the age of 30. Deng opting in was a huge break for the Heat’s hopes of contending this season, but his days of being able to hang with LeBron James defensively are long gone. Stoudemire is only on a one-year deal and probably won’t have much to give after that.
Bosh’s game looked just fine before the blood clots took him out for the rest of the season, but he’s coming off a scary injury and is 31 years old; in other words, what’s left of his prime won’t last forever either.
Whiteside (26) seems ready for a breakout season after having half of one in 2014-15, and stealing Justise Winslow in this year’s draft at No. 10 was huge for the team’s long-term future. But will either of them be ready to be a game changer in a playoff series against a team like the Cavaliers? I don’t see it happening.
LeBron is not in peak form anymore, but with a healthy Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, no one in the East can stop Cleveland. Miami’s tantalizing starting five didn’t really play together last season and will have to go through an adjustment process in 2015-16.
With the dwindling primes of Wade, Dragic, Deng, STAT and perhaps even Bosh in mind, this team was built to contend for titles sooner rather than later. But since that window will likely coincide with the last few years of LeBron’s prime (which may take forever to end since he’s a cyborg), this current rendition of the Miami Heat may never have a serious shot at a championship.
Given how fast the Heat regrouped and put together a roster that could compete with anyone in the East is impressive, and knowing Riley, he’ll constantly be thinking ahead. More than likely, he’ll be able to rapidly upgrade the roster again once LeBron’s prime has finally passed him by.
But as reassuring as it is that the Heat are now (on paper) one of the best teams in the East, don’t expect them or anyone else in the East to be challenging the Cleveland Cavaliers anytime soon.
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