HOOPSAHOLIC

Where are the fans....? This was the question asked by many people anytime they turned on the start of a Miami Heat game over the last four years. Miami sports fans are notorious for showing up to games fashionably late, and even though this maybe an obvious statement, I'll go ahead and muster it out anyways.. There's a lot of fun stuff to do in Miami (duh bro), and the Heat WITH LeBron James wasn't very high up on the totem pole of priorities for the people of South Beach. So now that The King has headed home to Cleveland, how far will the Heat fall on the city's level of importance? I guess we shall soon have that answer, but brace for impact because this could be a hard fall.  

With LBJ out, the Heat will turn to 33 year-old Dwayne Wade (insert sad face emoji) to lead the franchise once again. The aging shooting guard only played in 54 games last season and sat out most back to backs in order to rest his ailing knees. Many people think LBJ got tired of not having his sidekick on a nightly basis, adding one more thing to the list of why he skipped the warmth of Miami for the blistering cold of Cleveland. Wade still believes he's an elite player in this league, so it'll be interesting to see how much of the responsibility he will put on his own shoulders to carry the weight of this Heat organization in the post-LeBron era. 

I personally believe that Chris Bosh will be the go-to guy for the Heat this season and moving forward. Miami signed him to a five-year max contract, outbidding the Houston Rockets for the rights to keep the 7-foot power forward. Bosh is actually from Texas, so it wasn't far-fetched to think he would team up with Harden and Howard in Houston. Luckily for the Heat they were able to hold onto Bosh, and last year he averaged 16 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Over the last couple of seasons, Bosh has expanded his range to the three-point line and beyond, shooting the money ball at a 34% clip. I've heard some experts say they believe that Bosh could be a potential MVP candidate, and I couldn't disagree with them more. I mean, c'mon man! Let's be realistic. I do however believe he will make the all-star team and increase his scoring average to over 20 points per game. 

The Heat had to go out and try to find a suitable replacement for The King, and I think they did a pretty good job by signing Luol Deng to a two-year contract, paying him a little less than 20 million dollars. Deng has been an all-star in his career and he virtually carried the Bulls to the playoffs two seasons ago after the injury to Derrick Rose. Yes, he's aging quickly just like most everyone else on the Heat roster, but you could do worse than Deng when it comes to small-forwards. Last year while playing for the Bulls and Cavs, Deng averaged 16 points and six rebounds per contest. If Wade continues to sit out on the second night of back to back games, I expect Deng to see an increased work-load.

The point guard position will be an interesting dynamic to this Heat team. Mario Chalmers has been the starter the last four seasons in Miami, but last year Chalmers really struggled to get it going in the postseason. For the season Chalmers averaged ten points and five assists per game, but I believe Norris Cole is a more dynamic option for the Heat. Coming off of the bench, Cole averaged only six points and three assists, but he wasn't given much of an opportunity to create. I don't love Cole or Chalmers as starters in this league, but I think as the season goes on, we could see Cole as the main distributor for Miami. The Heat also drafted Shabazz Napier out of UCONN in this year's draft. They mostly took him as a piece to lure LeBron to resign in Miami after The King was very vocal that Napier was his favorite player in the draft. We saw Napier's play making ability all throughout the NCAA tournament last year when he was on his way to winning his second national championship. I don't know what his immediate role will be, but Napier will have a chance to take the point-guard position in Miami and run with it. 

Miami also acquired Josh McRoberts and Danny Granger over the summer. McRoberts had his best year as a professional last year in Charlotte averaging eight point and five rebounds. I think he will be a solid contributor in the post for this Heat team. Granger, on the other hand, I don't see fitting in well in Miami or quite honestly anywhere else in the NBA. He's a shell of his former all-star self, and last season Granger only played in 41 games averaging eight points. Every time I see him running down the court I think he could get injured. The most he will bring is veteran leadership, which is somewhat under-rated. When Granger was traded away from the Pacers, Indiana seemingly fell apart the rest of the way. 

I predict that the Heat will finish fifth in an improved Eastern Conference. They have enough talent to compete in this league and I expect to see big things out of Bosh going forward. Erik Spoelstra will have a tough test now that he doesn't have the best player in the world to lean on. This season we'll see how good of a coach Spoelstra really is.