Dewayne Wade, Not LeBron James, Will Determine Miami’s Future

The Miami Heat is in a precarious position.  Entering the NBA Finals, they were underdogs according to Las Vegas, but the two time defending champions were expected to contend with San Antonio.  That did not happen.  Other articles have detailed how the Spurs dissected the Heat’s defense more thoroughly than an honor’s biology lab dissects a frog.  This piece in particular is a great X’s and O’s breakdown of the Finals.

Now that the Finals are over the Heat must address the personnel issues that contributed to their defensive lapses.  The Big Three can all opt out or in and that flexibility creates a fluid situation.  The safe assumption is that all three will opt back in for one more season.  That does not eliminate the opportunity to add an All-Star quality player via free agency.

That player is not Carmelo Anthony.  Adding him would lower Miami’s defensive and offensive efficiency.  However, Kyle Lowry, most recently of the Toronto Raptors, would fill their needs.  The versatile guard averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 assists per game in 2013-14.  Signing Lowry would make Mario Chalmers expendable and a possible trade piece for the agile, defensive, big man the Heat need.

The catch is that Lowry will not be cheap.  Even if he discounts his services to seek a championship, and greater brand exposure, he will command at least ten million dollars a year.  This obstacle is avoidable if one of the Big Three were to opt out and restructure his deal at a severe bargain rate.  Dewayne Wade needs to do this.

 

           This would be the final part in Wade’s championship saga.  He teamed with an aging Shaquille O’Neal to will his way to his first championship.  By recruiting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach, Wade earned two more titles.  Now his knees have limited his effectiveness.  By gracefully moving aside, he will become the veteran sixth man that supplies energy, grit, headlong forays into the lane, and timely scoring.  In short, Wade has the opportunity to become Miami’s version of Manu Ginobili, albeit a less dangerous outside shooter.  If Wade accepts this role, it will signal Miami’s move to a Spur-esque team first attitude.  After all, if you can’t beat them, mimic them so you can beat the next season in the Finals.