Roster Reload: Better health, better Heat?
— -- As teams complete their seasons, ESPN Insider's NBA team will take a look at the offseason picture and priorities for all 30 teams. Below, Kevin Pelton offers a snapshot of the Miami Heat.
2014-15 record: 37-45
Pythagorean record: 34-48
Offensive rating: 101.5 (22nd)
Defensive rating: 103.8 (19th)
Draft picks
Own top-10 protected (10th entering lottery)
Own second-round pick (40th)
Projected cap space
Maximum: $20.8 million
Minimum: $0
Likely: $0
What's returning
Most notably, Chris Bosh. After missing the second half of this season with a blood clot in his lung, Bosh is expected to be cleared to return to full basketball activities in September with an eye toward being ready for the start of training camp. Bosh played barely 300 minutes with breakout center Hassan Whiteside, with the Heat outscoring opponents by 2.1 points per 100 possessions with that duo, per NBA.com/Stats.
Whiteside will surely be back for the second season of his minimum-salary contract to try to build on his remarkable per-36 averages: 17.8 points, 15.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Backup guard Tyler Johnson also proved an impressive D-League find, making 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Beyond Bosh, Miami also should get a healthy Josh McRoberts back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Since McRoberts was limited to just 17 games at far less than 100 percent, it's easy to forget how effective he was in Charlotte in 2013-14. McRoberts is overqualified for the reserve role he figures to play alongside veteran center Chris Andersen. Mario Chalmers is also set to return as a backup at both guard spots.
Free agents
Veterans Dwyane Wade ($16.1 million) and Luol Deng ($10.1 million) both have player options on the second seasons of the contracts they signed last summer. Whether on their current contracts or new, longer-term ones, both starting wings figure to return to the Heat. After 12 seasons in South Beach, it's hard to see Wade finishing his career anywhere else, and he remains an effective scorer when healthy.
After giving up a pair of first-round picks for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline, Miami hopes to re-sign the point guard. The Heat can offer Dragic a fifth year and larger year-to-year raises than other suitors such as the Lakers and Knicks. After arriving in Miami, Dragic averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes while making 55.2 percent of his 2-point attempts.
Biggest need: health
With Bosh missing 38 games, Wade 20 and McRoberts 65, the Heat ranked fifth in the NBA in most WARP lost due to injuries in 2014-15. While they should be more capable of overcoming extended absences next season thanks to improved depth, Miami has to keep its stars on the court to be competitive with the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Biggest question: Can the Heat rely on Whiteside?
After Whiteside was ejected from games twice in a week, Wade was sharply critical of his younger teammate, telling reporters, "We all have our moments, selfish moments, but you can't continue to keep having them because you got to be reliable, and you've got to be able to be counted on. And right now, if he continues to act that way, then he's not reliable."
Whiteside wasn't called for an exceptional number of technical (seven) or flagrant fouls (one), but his short fuse was costly in terms of ejections and he wasn't as consistent as his impressive statistics would suggest. If Miami is to take a step forward, Whiteside will need to be a reliable presence in the middle.
Ideal offseason
Heat president Pat Riley already did the heaviest lifting on the offseason by digging up Whiteside and Johnson and dealing for Dragic. Assuming Miami re-signs Dragic and Deng and Wade return, Miami will have only a couple of roster spots open at most. The summer's biggest drama will come in the NBA Draft lottery, when the Heat have to avoid being jumped by a team below them in the order to keep their top-10 protected pick. A lottery pick might be the only newcomer on next year's roster, and it's unlikely that whoever Miami selects will see much action as a rookie.
Own top-10 protected (10th entering lottery)
Own second-round pick (40th)
Projected cap space
Maximum: $20.8 million
Minimum: $0
Likely: $0
What's returning
Most notably, Chris Bosh. After missing the second half of this season with a blood clot in his lung, Bosh is expected to be cleared to return to full basketball activities in September with an eye toward being ready for the start of training camp. Bosh played barely 300 minutes with breakout center Hassan Whiteside, with the Heat outscoring opponents by 2.1 points per 100 possessions with that duo, per NBA.com/Stats.
Whiteside will surely be back for the second season of his minimum-salary contract to try to build on his remarkable per-36 averages: 17.8 points, 15.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Backup guard Tyler Johnson also proved an impressive D-League find, making 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Beyond Bosh, Miami also should get a healthy Josh McRoberts back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Since McRoberts was limited to just 17 games at far less than 100 percent, it's easy to forget how effective he was in Charlotte in 2013-14. McRoberts is overqualified for the reserve role he figures to play alongside veteran center Chris Andersen. Mario Chalmers is also set to return as a backup at both guard spots.
Free agents
Veterans Dwyane Wade ($16.1 million) and Luol Deng ($10.1 million) both have player options on the second seasons of the contracts they signed last summer. Whether on their current contracts or new, longer-term ones, both starting wings figure to return to the Heat. After 12 seasons in South Beach, it's hard to see Wade finishing his career anywhere else, and he remains an effective scorer when healthy.
After giving up a pair of first-round picks for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline, Miami hopes to re-sign the point guard. The Heat can offer Dragic a fifth year and larger year-to-year raises than other suitors such as the Lakers and Knicks. After arriving in Miami, Dragic averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes while making 55.2 percent of his 2-point attempts.
Biggest need: health
With Bosh missing 38 games, Wade 20 and McRoberts 65, the Heat ranked fifth in the NBA in most WARP lost due to injuries in 2014-15. While they should be more capable of overcoming extended absences next season thanks to improved depth, Miami has to keep its stars on the court to be competitive with the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Biggest question: Can the Heat rely on Whiteside?
After Whiteside was ejected from games twice in a week, Wade was sharply critical of his younger teammate, telling reporters, "We all have our moments, selfish moments, but you can't continue to keep having them because you got to be reliable, and you've got to be able to be counted on. And right now, if he continues to act that way, then he's not reliable."
Whiteside wasn't called for an exceptional number of technical (seven) or flagrant fouls (one), but his short fuse was costly in terms of ejections and he wasn't as consistent as his impressive statistics would suggest. If Miami is to take a step forward, Whiteside will need to be a reliable presence in the middle.
Ideal offseason
Heat president Pat Riley already did the heaviest lifting on the offseason by digging up Whiteside and Johnson and dealing for Dragic. Assuming Miami re-signs Dragic and Deng and Wade return, Miami will have only a couple of roster spots open at most. The summer's biggest drama will come in the NBA Draft lottery, when the Heat have to avoid being jumped by a team below them in the order to keep their top-10 protected pick. A lottery pick might be the only newcomer on next year's roster, and it's unlikely that whoever Miami selects will see much action as a rookie.
Whiteside will surely be back for the second season of his minimum-salary contract to try to build on his remarkable per-36 averages: 17.8 points, 15.2 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Backup guard Tyler Johnson also proved an impressive D-League find, making 37.5 percent of his 3-point attempts.
Beyond Bosh, Miami also should get a healthy Josh McRoberts back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Since McRoberts was limited to just 17 games at far less than 100 percent, it's easy to forget how effective he was in Charlotte in 2013-14. McRoberts is overqualified for the reserve role he figures to play alongside veteran center Chris Andersen. Mario Chalmers is also set to return as a backup at both guard spots.
Free agents
Veterans Dwyane Wade ($16.1 million) and Luol Deng ($10.1 million) both have player options on the second seasons of the contracts they signed last summer. Whether on their current contracts or new, longer-term ones, both starting wings figure to return to the Heat. After 12 seasons in South Beach, it's hard to see Wade finishing his career anywhere else, and he remains an effective scorer when healthy.
After giving up a pair of first-round picks for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline, Miami hopes to re-sign the point guard. The Heat can offer Dragic a fifth year and larger year-to-year raises than other suitors such as the Lakers and Knicks. After arriving in Miami, Dragic averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes while making 55.2 percent of his 2-point attempts.
Biggest need: health
With Bosh missing 38 games, Wade 20 and McRoberts 65, the Heat ranked fifth in the NBA in most WARP lost due to injuries in 2014-15. While they should be more capable of overcoming extended absences next season thanks to improved depth, Miami has to keep its stars on the court to be competitive with the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Biggest question: Can the Heat rely on Whiteside?
After Whiteside was ejected from games twice in a week, Wade was sharply critical of his younger teammate, telling reporters, "We all have our moments, selfish moments, but you can't continue to keep having them because you got to be reliable, and you've got to be able to be counted on. And right now, if he continues to act that way, then he's not reliable."
Whiteside wasn't called for an exceptional number of technical (seven) or flagrant fouls (one), but his short fuse was costly in terms of ejections and he wasn't as consistent as his impressive statistics would suggest. If Miami is to take a step forward, Whiteside will need to be a reliable presence in the middle.
Ideal offseason
Heat president Pat Riley already did the heaviest lifting on the offseason by digging up Whiteside and Johnson and dealing for Dragic. Assuming Miami re-signs Dragic and Deng and Wade return, Miami will have only a couple of roster spots open at most. The summer's biggest drama will come in the NBA Draft lottery, when the Heat have to avoid being jumped by a team below them in the order to keep their top-10 protected pick. A lottery pick might be the only newcomer on next year's roster, and it's unlikely that whoever Miami selects will see much action as a rookie.
Beyond Bosh, Miami also should get a healthy Josh McRoberts back from arthroscopic knee surgery. Since McRoberts was limited to just 17 games at far less than 100 percent, it's easy to forget how effective he was in Charlotte in 2013-14. McRoberts is overqualified for the reserve role he figures to play alongside veteran center Chris Andersen. Mario Chalmers is also set to return as a backup at both guard spots.
Free agents
Veterans Dwyane Wade ($16.1 million) and Luol Deng ($10.1 million) both have player options on the second seasons of the contracts they signed last summer. Whether on their current contracts or new, longer-term ones, both starting wings figure to return to the Heat. After 12 seasons in South Beach, it's hard to see Wade finishing his career anywhere else, and he remains an effective scorer when healthy.
After giving up a pair of first-round picks for Goran Dragic at the trade deadline, Miami hopes to re-sign the point guard. The Heat can offer Dragic a fifth year and larger year-to-year raises than other suitors such as the Lakers and Knicks. After arriving in Miami, Dragic averaged 17.2 points and 5.5 assists per 36 minutes while making 55.2 percent of his 2-point attempts.
Biggest need: health
With Bosh missing 38 games, Wade 20 and McRoberts 65, the Heat ranked fifth in the NBA in most WARP lost due to injuries in 2014-15. While they should be more capable of overcoming extended absences next season thanks to improved depth, Miami has to keep its stars on the court to be competitive with the Eastern Conference's best teams.
Biggest question: Can the Heat rely on Whiteside?
After Whiteside was ejected from games twice in a week, Wade was sharply critical of his younger teammate, telling reporters, "We all have our moments, selfish moments, but you can't continue to keep having them because you got to be reliable, and you've got to be able to be counted on. And right now, if he continues to act that way, then he's not reliable."
Whiteside wasn't called for an exceptional number of technical (seven) or flagrant fouls (one), but his short fuse was costly in terms of ejections and he wasn't as consistent as his impressive statistics would suggest. If Miami is to take a step forward, Whiteside will need to be a reliable presence in the middle.
Ideal offseason
Heat president Pat Riley already did the heaviest lifting on the offseason by digging up Whiteside and Johnson and dealing for Dragic. Assuming Miami re-signs Dragic and Deng and Wade return, Miami will have only a couple of roster spots open at most. The summer's biggest drama will come in the NBA Draft lottery, when the Heat have to avoid being jumped by a team below them in the order to keep their top-10 protected pick. A lottery pick might be the only newcomer on next year's roster, and it's unlikely that whoever Miami selects will see much action as a rookie.