Miami Heat: 5 reasons to be excited for 2018-19 NBA season

4. A return to full health for several key players

While they were bundled out in five games in the first round of the postseason, the Heat had several players carrying nagging injuries.

The most hyped injury issue centered around Hassan Whiteside. Sidelined for 28 games during the regular season, primarily due to a knee problem, his play gradually suffered over the course of the season, culminating in a horror playoff showing in which he averaged just 15.4 minutes per game.

However, with a full summer of work behind him, the 7’0″ center appears primed to hit the season running, if his first preseason showing is any indication. In just 23 minutes, Whiteside posted 20 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks in the 104-100 loss to the San Antonio Spurs.

Following the performance, coach Spoelstra was full of praise:

"“You could see it, he’s in great shape, so he’s able to sustain a high level of activity and play with multiple efforts. He was doing it on both ends of the court, he was defending and protecting the rim for us….even on the offensive end he was active and doing his job, setting great screens….he was a big time presence in the paint.”"

Another player on the comeback trail from injury is forward James Johnson. While he played in 73 games last season, Johnson was hampered for the majority of the season by a hernia injury that eventually required surgery following the playoffs. As a result, Johnson is still not quite ready to hit the floor for preseason action.

When fully healthy, Johnson demonstrated just how damaging he can be throughout the latter part of the 2016-17 season, when over the final 34 games of the season he averaged 14.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists in 29.3 minutes per game. As one of the captains along with Udonis Haslem and Goran Dragic, Johnson’s overall leadership will be just as vital as the quality of his play on the court.

Then there’s Dion Waiters, who like Johnson, transcended his play in the second half of the 2016-17 season, as the Heat reeled off an incredible 30-11 record to complete the season. However, the ankle injury that ended his first season with the Heat carried over to last season, where he played just 30 games.

As a result, Waiters was a shell of the player who, in a 21-game stretch during the Heat’s 30-11 finish, averaged 19.6 points and 5.1 assists per game while shooting at a sizzling 46.4 percent clip from 3-point range.

With so much money tied up in Whiteside, Johnson and Waiters, getting this trio to return to their form of two seasons ago will make a world of difference for the Heat moving forward.