In one weeks time the Miami Heat will be at training camp in the Bahamas. For first time in 13 years, Dwyane Wade will not be a part of the roster. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things to look forward to this season. Here are the top five things to look forward to this upcoming season.
1. A Healthy Chris Bosh
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Chris Bosh needs the Heat team doctors to clear him before he can officially play, but that doesn’t mean he has stopped working his way back into playing shape. In fact, Bosh has made it a point to publicize his workouts through social media. It’s clear that he believes he’s ready to play this season and that’s good news for Heat fans.
A healthy Bosh is still one of the most dynamic big men in the game. His ability to shoot mid- to long-range jumpers makes it difficult for traditional big men to guard him. He can still finish at the rim with his speed and battle in the post with the best centers in the league.
However, his greatest asset is his defense. When he was sidelined last year with the recurrence of blood clots, the team’s defensive rating jumped from 100.6 to 103.2. With all the new faces in the lineup, Bosh’s leadership and steadiness on the court will be a huge reinforcement to look forward to.
Next: A Faster-Paced Offense
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2. A Faster-Paced Offense
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This year brings the promise of speed. As much as Heat fans loved Wade, he was one of the biggest reasons that sometimes the offense slowed to a crawl. Most of the time this had to do with an offense that was designed with Wade as the focal point. Head coach Erik Spoelstra is no longer bounded by those schemes.
“When you’re pushing the tempo and attacking, that’s a fun style. It makes sense for us to maximize Goran (Dragic), Hassan (Whiteside), and Justise’s (Winslow) strengths. Their strengths are their speed, their athleticism. Young players gravitate to Goran. They want to play that style,” said Spoelstra.
His new roster is loaded with fast, young players that are ready to run. There is no question that the Heat’s pace will be drastically different from years past and that should allow the offense to score more points. In the past two years the Heat have ranked near the bottom of the league, 27th and 23rd respectively, in points per game, but this new offensive pace should help change that in a hurry.
Dragic is going to benefit the most from this new style of play. We will know more about Spoelstra’s new system when training camp begins, but it’s a safe bet that he will make sure that Dragic is the focal point of the offense. This season the quick-footed guard will have the best chance in his Heat career to prove that he is worth the five-year, $90 million contract he signed two summers ago.
Next: Improved Outside-Shooting
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3. Improved Outside-Shooting
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The Heat had a pretty miserable summer overall, but they were able to address one concern that has plauged them in the post-LeBron James era: shooting. The Heat were one of the worst outside-shooting teams in the league last year (27th in 3-point shooting). Pat Riley was able to bring in some much-needed shooting help this summer.
Along with Josh Richardson, the addition of Luke Babbitt, a career 40.3 percent 3-point shooter, and Wayne Ellington, a career 37.6 percent 3-point shooter, should provide some reliable outside threats for the Heat. With the amount of attention Whiteside will command in the paint, these shooters will have a lot of opportunities to capitalize.
Next: The Emergence of Hassan Whiteside
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4. The Emergence of Hassan Whiteside
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The NBA has shifted from a big-man dominated league in the ’90s and early ’00s to a more position-less league today. The Heat are one of the few teams left that still have a big man that can take over a game on both ends of the floor.
Whiteside has shown flashes of utter dominance on both sides of the ball and the key this season will be to see if he can consistently replicate that over several days, weeks, and maybe even the whole season. The powerful center averaged 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.7 blocks per game last year and those numbers should rise as he becomes a key asset in Spoelstra’s game plan.
Next: Justise Winslow
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5. Justise Winslow
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Winslow is still a mystery to some people in the NBA. Most people know he’s a lockdown defender but they are still wary, and justifiably so, of his offensive game.
The former Duke University star made it known before summer began that Heat fans should expect a big jump in his game this year. Now no longer a rookie, he is ready to take over the small forward position in the starting lineup. Heat fans already know the spotlight won’t be too big for him — he’s too mature to let that bother him. But how much will his game improve from last year? If the reports about his shooting are true, he could be the Heat’s secret superstar next season.
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