Miami is one of the teams that even with a NBA title couldn't build a legacy like the Lakers and the Spurs managed in the last few years, as the opposite has exactly happen! With the arrival of Shaq in 2004/2005, the Heat had a 59-23 record and they were champions on the following year, with a 52-30 regular season record. Last season the Heat had a 15-67 record, which means that they had a decrease of 44 wins in just 4 seasons!

For this season, the goal is to fight for a playoff spot, be competitive and do not repeat the 15 games losing streak they had last season. The news start on the bench, as the team has a new coach: Erik Spoelstra. The franchise president Pat Riley knows this was a risky choice and "risk" is really the correct word for this choice. We are talking about the youngest coach of the league, with just 37 years old, who began his career in 1995 on the... video room of the Heat! His biggest coaching job until now was in the Summer League, so we will need to wait to know what Spoelstra will be capable to do and if this choice was a brilliant one or a total disaster.

The team has some new players this season and that was a natural decision, as after what happened last season, something really needed to change. Luck was on their side, as the Heat was the 2nd position in the draft and they selected Michael Beasley. The expectations of what Beasley will be capable to do already this season are huge and they are normal, as he is the best player of the 2008 draft in terms of scoring touch and while playing for Kansas State, he had 26.2 ppg and 12.4 rpg. Naturally if he plays in the PF position, Beasley will face some tougher and stronger opponents than him, but with his agility and technique, he should have no problems with that. In my opinion, there is a factor which will help Beasley's development on the NBA. Unlike for example Kevin Durant, he won't be the #1 offensive choice of the team. Dwayne Wade is the franchise player of the Heat and so, Beasley won't feel the pressure, which will help him on his development.

For everybody who has watched Team USA on the Olympics, surely noticed that the "old" Wade is back to his best condition and that's amazing news for the Heat. If Wade manages to stay healthy the whole season, we are in front of one of the best and exciting players in the whole league, with an amazing dribbling ability and capable to "steal" a lot of fouls to their opponents. If that doesn't happen and Wade struggles physically again, then the Heat will struggle to fight for a spot on the playoffs.

The biggest concern of Spoelstra is surely on the PG position. The team has 3 options right now: rookie Mario Chalmers, Chris Quinn and Marcus Banks. Until now nobody seems certain in this position and a big proof of that are the rumors that Miami is trying to hire free agent Shaun Livingston. Mario Chalmers will be in theory Spoelstra's pick for the PG position, but his NBA career hasn't started very well with that incident with his former team mate Darrell Arthur. Chalmers is however a good player, he had 12.8 ppg, 4.3 apg, 3.1 rpg and 2.5 spg for the Kansas Jayhawks and it's especially on his defensive abilities that he beats his team mates in the fight for the PG position. Marcus Banks is just useful in the offense and Quinn even though he took advantage very well of some injuries on the team last season doesn't seem that he is going to have many minutes this season.

Shawn Marion may be the key of this team, he will need to play well if he wants a good contract next season and the best way to do it is to play his best. Marion will finally have the chance to play on his favorite position: small forward. His ability to win rebounds will be a precious help for Beasley when he faces dominant Power Forwards.

The center position is just like the PG position, a problem for the Heat. According to Spoelstra, Udonis Haslem has chances to become the team's starting center, which may become a big problem, as Haslem is a power forward and not a center by any means! Haslem has been on his career a regular 10 ppg - 9 rpg player, but we are talking about a conference who has very tall and powerful centers and we'll have to wonder until which point will the Heat be competitive on this area. It's also important to say the other options for center aren't great: Mark Blount and Jamaal Magloire will have their minutes, but they won't bring a lot of quality to the team.

Miami has conditions to become once again a contender for a playoff spot, but there are still many doubts about this team, including on the bench. Dwayne Wade seems to be at 100%, which is great news for Miami and together with Beasley, they may become one of the best duos on the league and what the Heat may do this season will depend from how dynamic can these two players be together.

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