The Miami Heat were one of the brightest surprises last season due to their brilliant season. I remember that they were coming from a 15-67 record in the previous season and with a rookie head coach and two rookies receiving plenty of minutes, the Heat were able to finish with a 43-39, behind the stellar play of a healthy Dwayne Wade. For this season, Pat Rilley didn't make any substantial movement to improve the team, he ratter preferred to save the money for the next off season and basically the Heat have exactly the same roster that the team had last season.

So, the Heat will absolutely need Dwayne Wade to have another monster season this year, in order for them to be competitive. After missing a total of 62 games in the previous two seasons, Wade showed some flashes of brilliancy during the summer in the Olympics and then, he just confirmed his good health over the season by making a stellar season. He led the league in scoring with 30.2 points per game. He also had a career high 7.5 assists per game by trying to involve his team mates in the game and defensively, he was a monster as well with 5 boards per game, 2.2 steals per game - 2nd best in the league and also a stunning mark of 1.30 blocks per game ' he was the first player at 6′4″ or under to record at least 100 blocks in a single season. It would be nice for Miami if they had more options in order to give some rest to Wade during the season, but this seems unlikely and Wade will have to bring similar numbers for this season. I remember that Wade is playing the final year of his contract and the Heat will need to offer him more solutions to turn Miami into a better team.

Pat Rilley is expecting Mario Chalmers and Michael Beasley to smoothly develop into better players in their sophomore season. Chalmers was a second round draft pick, but he was a starter in the 82 games for the Heat and had a good rookie season. He averaged 10.0 points and 4.9 assists per game, but he showed great defensive skills by averaging 2.0 steals per game and along with Wade, the Heat have a terrific defensive backcourt. However, he needs to improve his scoring abilities. Dwayne Wade is receiving so many attention from their opponent's defense that Chalmers must improve his scoring touch because he will be left wide open several times. His field goal percentage has varied from 38% in January to 45.5% in December, in a clear sign of inconsistency, but let's not forget that he was a rookie and so, such discrepancy can be considered as normal. Miami lacks a good backup for Chalmers, as they have only Chris Quinn, so they hope Chalmers is able to quickly develop into a better player, as he will receive major minutes once again this season.

Meanwhile, Michael Beasley is supposedly the second offensive option for the Heat and unfortunately for him and for the team, he has been dealing with personal problems and hopefully he will be back to his normal condition soon. His rookie season was plenty of inconsistency through the season. The Heat initially didn't have Jermaine O'Neal and so, they didn't have a real center, so playing Beasley at the Power Forward position was problematic because the Heat was being consistently overpowered by their opponents' frontcourts. When head coach Erik Spoelstra realized that, he inserted Beasley as their 6th man coming off the bench. He ended the season averaging 13.9 ppg and 5.4 rpg, while shooting 47% from the field. He struggled to receive minutes from Spoelstra, but when he logged 31.3 minutes per game in April, he averaged 20.6 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, while shooting 55% from the field... this is the player that the Heat want for the future and if he can bring such numbers for the table this season, then Pat Rilley won't need to spend huge money in the next off-season for his position.

The frontcourt is completed with Udonis Haslem and Jermaine O'Neal. Haslem has been one of the team captains of the Heat for a long time and despite being undersized for a Power Forward, he is a smart player, whose hustle and aggressiveness turns him into a valuable piece for the organization. Last season he offered the same kind of numbers, as he has been doing in his career: a potential double-double player in every game. He averaged 10.6 points and pulled in 8.3 rebounds, while shooting 51.8 % from the field. We can expect such similar numbers because he is a model of consistency in this league.

In Jermaine O'Neal, the Heat have the potential piece that could elevate them to another level, however O'Neal is not the player he used to be and the Heat surely know that. Last season with the Heat, O'Neal averaged 13 ppg and 5.4 rpg, but he wasn't the keymaker for the team during the season. Simply put, with him the Heat didn't dramatically improve. He is playing on his final year of a huge contract and he will surely do everything he can to play better and this will help the team and at the same time, Pat Riley will have a $23M salary free cap at the end of the season.

The Heat have also a solid core of role players who can help the team during the season.  Quentin Richardson finally ended in Miami and he is the only addition for this season. With Wade on the court, Miami need good perimeter shooters who can spread the floor for him - Richardson is a good 3pts shooter and he can offer such characteristics to the team. James Jones and Daequan Cook offer the same principals to the team, although Cook is a younger and more talented player and should be able to develop smoothly this year. For the frontcourt, Miami has Joel Anthony and Jamaal Magloire and these players don't add much quality down low, so Miami will have once again some rebounding problems to solve.

The Heat bring exactly the same core of players who overachieved last season. However, will it be enough for this season? I remember that the Wizards are now an improved team, while the Hawks and the Magic will be on the top as well, so Miami will need to improve dramatically. Pat Riley is counting that the young players can develop this season, but it will be Dwayne Wade who will carry this team once again. The Heat will have a huge salary cap flexibility in the next off season and I wouldn't be surprised if they add a player before the trade deadline. Until then, Wade will have a huge challenge on his hands.