Worst Case Scenario
Wade’s minutes and games played have been in steady decline since the 2010-11 NBA season. While that worked for their roster at the time, it will be problematic given Wade is now clearly Miami’s second-best player. Teams will surely look to lock down on Bosh and force the Heat to find scoring elsewhere. If Wade is some combination of incapable or unable to score more than 15 points per game, Spoelstra will be forced to rely on players either a) not known for their scoring (Cole and Deng) or b) rely on barely-starters/role players to step up on a nightly basis. Not a promising combination.
Miami has established one of the best offenses in the league thus far, but if that regresses and their mediocre defense remains mediocre, problems could set in. These could be magnified if the New York Knicks, Hornets, Bulls, and Atlanta Hawks start clicking. There is a chance that Miami could be looking up at Chicago, Brooklyn, Toronto, New York, Washington, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Charlotte and fighting for their playoff lives. Somewhere in the eight or nine seed range would be as bad as it could get for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Next: Prediction
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