Miami Heat Season Preview

Over the past week since I've posted on my blog, Michael Beasley has been fined for vague reasons, Dwyane Wade has publicly said he wouldn't mind playing for Mike D'Antoni, and Wade has added that he wouldn't have qualms if Stephon Marbury came to play for him in the backcourt. Why haven't I spoken on these? I'll take it point by point. The Beasley situation is still unclear, we can speculate all we want. I'm disappointed that Wade would say that he likes D'Antoni because he preaches "all offense." If he wants to add a ring to his collection, he has to know that you have to play defense. Look at all of the teams that have won it all up to this point. And I don't see Miami signing Marbury regardless of Wade says about him.

The Miami Heat's training camp will begin this Saturday in England, earlier than usual. It is, therefore, an appropriate time to preview Miami's upcoming season and how they have retooled their team over the summer.

Guards: We will see Dwyane Wade starting at the two guard, but questions remain about his partner in the backcourt. Erik Spoelstra currently has Marcus Banks, Mario Chalmers, and Chris Quinn as options. It'll be a fairly open field. Whoever makes the most impact in training camp will probably be starting at Madison Square Garden on October 29. If I had to guess, I'd say Banks will come out on top. He's got the experience, he's played under Steve Nash, and he can be a good three-point shooter and fiesty defender. Chalmers certainly has the potential, but he's going to have to prove his worth against the upper echelon of the point guards if he wants to start.

Backing up Wade, I expect to see Daequan Cook providing some three-point shooting off the bench. With a season under his belt, I expect Cook to become more consistent. We could also see free-agent signee Yakhouba Diawara playing some minutes behind Wade.

Forwards: The logjam is at the three. Shawn Marion, in his contract year, is the clear-cut starter. He can score if you set him up, he's versatile, athletic, and can rebound with the best of them. The sharp-shooting James Jones will be backing him up. Jones was a good signing because it gives Miami someone who can shoot from beyond the arc and is a long defender. He can develop into Miami's sixth man.

Miami re-signed Dorell Wright this year to a qualifying offer. It doesn't make much sense to me why Riles would take Wright and have him as a third-string small forward. I mean, can't Diawara do that? And he's making far less money than Wright is. I still can easily see Marion being traded to another team, possibly in mid-season. Jones can step into the starting lineup with ease and Wright can be a scrappy player off the bench.

Michael Beasley, Miami's first-round selection, is expected to start at the four. For now, I'd like to keep him there. Beasley will be able to make more mismatches at the four than he'll be able to do at the three. Udonis Haslem will be backing him up, although he could see some time at the five. I also anticipate seeing Mark Blount and Joel Anthony as options at the four.

Center: This is Miami's biggest problem. Pat Riley made a late signing to bring Jamal Magloire on board. Magloire, a former All-Star, has fallen from grace so quickly he couldn't even make the rotation of the Nets or the Mavs, and they were in desperate need of big bodies. Magloire's playing time is up to him. If he comes to camp motivated, he can start.

As I mentioned earlier, we could see Spoelstra go small and use the 6'8" Haslem in the middle. Going small can work sometimes, but Haslem is undersized for a power forward. The 7'0" Mark Blount is expected to get some backup minutes, as is the raw Joel Anthony. The franchise's favorite, Alonzo Mourning, has expressed interest in playing for one last season and could come back by the new year.

Final Offseason Grade: C Riley had a good start to his offseason with the drafting of Beasley and Mario Chalmers. He followed that up by signing a dead-eye shooter in James Jones. But from then on, Riley signed players who I've never heard of (Diawara) or players who I haven't heard of in a while (Magloire). Moreover, Riley has not traded Shawn Marion for the most pressing the Heat have, a center. He can still make things better. But right now I see Miami as a team that could squeak into the playoffs, but not go much farther.