In 2003, the Miami Heat took a raw player that had spent time overseas and gave him a chance to earn a spot on the team. In the 12 years since, he has appeared in 715 games, scored 6,127 points, grabbed 5,332 rebounds (leading the franchise) and gone on to shed the clichéd blood, sweat and tears to become the heart of his hometown team.
The player is, of course, Udonis Haslem. Alongside Dwyane Wade, each has collected three championships and declared themselves through word and deed as “Heat Lifers.”
And there’s a very good chance this accomplished career would never have happened if the circumstances were the same this season.
Haslem’s rookie season was, for all intents and purposes, meant to be a rebuilding one. The Heat had sneaked Lamar Odom away from the L.A. Clippers as a restricted free agent and was building a young core of players that also included second-year forward Caron Butler and Wade, the fourth pick in that year’s draft.
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Wade was an explosive athlete and had all the tools but, generously listed as 6’4”, he was too short to play off-guard and not quite experienced enough to handle the point. There was no way of knowing that a future Hall of Fame career was in the making.
With Stan Van Gundy assuming the head coaching reins from Pat Riley (in what was basically a throwaway season), the expectations were lowered and the eye was on the future.
It came more quickly than expected.
Van Gundy proved his chops in his first head gig, Odom and Butler meshed well, Brian Grant (!) and Rafer Alston (!!!) were productive and Wade … well, he was just getting started. The young core was broken up to acquire Shaquille O’Neal and Haslem and Wade would go on to win their first rings in just their third season in the NBA.
There are parallels to this season, although the match isn’t a perfect one. Miami isn’t considered a title threat or not a serious one, anyway. They’ll need a lot of breaks to happen before they can make it to their fifth straight Finals.
But with Riley in charge there’s always a hope that they can retool, given a season or two, and they can use the allure of South Florida, sufficient salary cap space and championship culture to lure top free agents, true difference makers that could transform Miami into legitimate contenders.
And they’ll need a well-rounded supporting cast that could be developed from within, unlike the pattern that’s been in place for the past four years.
In Justin Hamilton, Khem Birch, Andre Dawkins and James Ennis, the Heat have four players in their first or second year. All of them have weaknesses but all of them have potential.
Hamilton has size and shooting but his defense needs work. Dawkins has long-range skills but lacks an overall impact while Ennis has all the tools but needs time to put it all together.
Birch is an explosive defender and rebounder – he grabbed 13 boards in a recent preseason game against the Spurs and notched three blocks against the Grizzlies – but his offense is virtually nonexistent. Any one of these players could be a valid contributor to the team, if given the chance to supplant an older veteran that has already reached a lower ceiling.
On Saturday, the Heat erased all doubt and trimmed their roster to 15, waiving Birch before the league’s deadline of Monday afternoon.
Shannon Brown made the team, thus denying a younger player the opportunity to learn the game at its highest level. Brown’s been solid this preseason but simply doesn’t do anything very well, if he ever did.
Once again, Miami has kept a veteran presence on the team. With Riley and his best pupil, Erik Spoelstra, at the helm, the Heat has usually looked for more experienced players, rarely counting on younger talents to make a difference.
A change of culture should have been necessary, and this season – not quite a throw-away like 2003 and not a championship lock like the “Big 3” era – was the perfect time to do it. Sometimes, the diamond in the rough can make a difference and it’s crucial for Miami’s long-range plans that they start mining what they currently have available to them.
No further proof is necessary than to look down the bench and see Haslem – the old, grim warrior – who will one day join Wade when both their retired numbers hang from the rafters alongside the championship banners they won together.