The Heat hope the return of star players and a deeper bench will propel them to a top seed in the East.
Last Season’s Record: 37-45
Key Additions
- Amare Stoudemire
- Gerald Green
- Justice Winslow
Key Departures
- Michael Beasley
- Henry Walker
2015/2016 Season outlook
Last year, the Miami Heat were completely destroyed by injuries. Dwyane Wade missed 20 games, Josh McRoberts missed most of the season and blood clots in his lungs ended Chris Bosh’s season just after the All-Star break. They simply cannot get that unlucky again which is why they are well on point for a playoff push this season.
The key duo this year will be Goran Dragic and Chris Bosh as a pick and roll partnership. Dragic is a great passer, and is one of the best pick and roll players in the league. He has a safe pair of hands and he can finish at the rim at an elite level as shown by his 69 precent shooting inside the restricted area.
Chris Bosh on the other hand is a terrific shooter — he can shoot from beyond at the arc, and shot 46 percent from mid-range, which is a very high number considering it is the least efficient shot. Spoelstra is a forward thinking coach, but a lot of pick and roll play will end up with a mid-range shot, this will be fine as Bosh can knock them down at a high rate.
Miami added some actual scoring to their bench. Gerald Green is a controversial player but he can score points at a high rate if he is on his game. Miami’s bench had the worst PPG of any team last year per 48 minutes, which was largely the cause of their downfall alongside the injuries they had. Green averaged double figures in terms of points last year but as always, his problem was field goal percentage, he shot a miserable 41 percnt from the field in a team that had genuine floor spacing. This number could improve as Spoelstra has a much more specific offensive system than Jeff Hornacek, who lets his team play freely on the offensive end. It is clear Gerald Green has ability, it just needs to be harvested within a tight knit system, and he will be able to thrive in Miami if he puts the correct work in.
The Heat had many defensive role players in the front-court last year such as Chris Andersen and Udonis Haslem, but they lacked scoring outside of Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside. Pat Riley immediately recognized this and signed former All-star forward Amare Stoudemire after his release by the Dallas Mavericks. The former Knicks star was awful in Dallas and had his lowest points per game rating of his career at just 10.8. This was in a team where he was largely expected to be their sixth man, he simply didn’t live up to expectations.
There is some context in this however, Stoudemire didn’t really ever have a connection with Rajon Rondo, even on paper. Stoudemire thrives with a point guard who can shoot — his best days were with Steve Nash who was perhaps the ultimate point guard for an up tempo offence. Rondo on the other hand prefers to slow things down and he rarely rolls to the basket, this would explain Stoudemire’s lack of production.
In Miami however, he will be able to improve his game as both Goran Dragic and Mario Chalmers are efficient in pick and roll situations and he will have more space to work in the post. Stoudemire was very efficient last season, he was 9th amongst power forwards in terms of PER, which means Miami are getting someone who will be pretty consistent on their bench, they didn’t have that last season.
Justice Winslow is slightly overrated in my eyes, but one thing he will bring is terrific wing defence. He was one of the best defenders in that college draft, but the fact he can’t shoot means I don’t see him becoming a long term replacement for Luol Deng or Dwyane Wade in this team. Regardless of this, having a lockdown defender off the bench is very important.
This team made no changes to their starting lineup, but they didn’t need to. If the starting five of Dragic, Wade, Deng, Bosh, and Whiteside stay fit then the Heat have the potential of a top four side The bench needed a lot of work and considering the Heat’s limits in terms of salary, Pat Riley bought two of the best guys in that were on the open market. Gerald Green could be a true catalyst for this team if he gets going, but in looking at history, this seems unlikely.
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