The Miami Heat are NBA champions for the second year in a row and after making the finals for the third straight season, Pat Riley is looking to follow the same playbook the franchise has used over the past few years, signing solid veteran free agents late in the summer and after adding Greg Oden, some options that are left include Lamar Odom, Antawn Jamison, Stephen Jackson, DeShawn Stevenson, Richard Hamilton, Dahntay Jones, Ronnie Brewer and Marquis Daniels.
According to the Sun Sentinel, the Heat could be interested in multiple free agents from that list of names along with Daniel Gibson, Tyrus Thomas, Roger Mason Jr., Sebastian Telfair and Vladimir Radmanovic, as the roster is at the minimum now and there is a chance they could add one or two players from that crop. The report says that Pat Riley likes to "cannibalize" the free agent market when it gets to the latter stages and that could be what the team decides to do again this season.
Last season the team won 66 games and had a rough road to the finals with a tough Indiana Pacers team before going to seven games against the San Antonio Spurs. James will again be the focal point of the offense and after averaging over 26 points per game with eight rebounds and seven assists, he is ready for another MVP season. The team ranked fifth in points per game and 30th in rebounding, but a large part of that is due to the solid shooting of the team and their 27-game winning streak and they head into next year after averaging 23 assists and ranking fifth in points per game allowed.
ESPN is reporting good news for the Heat and Dwyane Wade, as the star was cleared to start taking part in basketball activities after giving his knees a rest over the summer. Wade, as he showed in the playoffs last season, is still a very solid player, but his knees are starting to give out after years of aggressive play and he ended up missing a game in the playoffs after dealing with a bone bruise. Last season he was held to a career-low average of 15.9 points per game in the postseason and he said that he will be ready for opening night this season.
Many teams around the East have improved with teams like the Brooklyn Nets and Indiana Pacers adding new players and the Knicks expect to be strong again as well. The Heat may go after players like Jackson, Gibson or Jamison to add to the bench and along with Chris Andersen and Greg Oden, the front court should be much improved. James appears ready to have another fantastic season and if he can play at an MVP level again, the Heat have the chance to win their third straight championship.
