M I A M I   H E A T
Go-To Guy | Weakest Link | Burning Question | Outlook

Heat at a Glance Coach: Pat Riley Last Year: 36-46 (Stats) Key Additions: G Travis Best, F Caron Butler Key Losses: C Chris Gatling, F Kendall Gill, G Rod Strickland Projected Starters PG Travis Best SG Eddie Jones SF Caron Butler PF Brian Grant C Alonzo Mourning Key Subs PG Anthony Carter SG Jim Jackson PF LaPhonso Ellis C Vladimir Stepania

By John Hollinger, CNNSI.com

The Heat went from being dull but effective to just plain dull last year, as Pat Riley's strategy of boring the other team to tears was undone by a copious lack of talent. Importing enough grizzled vets to have two separate canasta games going in the clubhouse, Riley managed to salvage a season that began with a disastrous 5-23 start, but he still missed the playoffs for the first time in his coaching career, and the long-term prognosis remains unchanged.

The problem is that Alonzo Mourning's kidney illness and the subsequent decline in his performance have exposed all kinds of holes on Miami's roster. Because the Heat are paying the maximum to three players -- Mourning, Brian Grant and Eddie Jones -- they have almost nothing left to pay anybody else. As a result, their bench was awful last year. Making matters worse is the luxury tax, which wipes out Riley's ability to sign players for the mid-level exception -- formerly the best way out of a salary cap mess.

Miami's hopes for this season are based on two factors. First, Mourning played better during the year's second half after he got all his medications in order and wasn't so winded. Second, Miami got what many consider the steal of the draft in forward Caron Butler. The fact that Butler fills a position that was a huge liability a year ago only adds to his appeal.

Unfortunately, the rest of the roster consists of veteran players of varying levels of decrepitude, including the marginally useful (Grant and Travis Best), the formerly useful (LaPhonso Ellis and Jim Jackson) and the never useful (Anthony Carter).

Eddie Jones, G -- Alonzo Mourning is still the Heat's best player, but when this team needs a basket down the stretch, it's now Jones who has to answer the call. He showed more skill in this area late in the year, and can be effective as a primary scorer because he has a variety of shots and moves. It would help if he was strong enough to post up smaller defenders and get easy baskets inside, but the Heat will live with his current skill set.

What hurts is the Heat's lack of other offensive options, which allows teams to double both Jones and Mourning with impunity. Caron Butler may help out in that area, but what the Heat really need is a point guard who can make people pay for double-teaming -- which provides a convenient segue to our next topic.

Travis Best, G -- The Heat brought in Best to replace the departed Rod Strickland. Last year Strickland played as well as he ever has on defense and distributed the ball wonderfully, but his lack of a jump shot was a liability that allowed teams to play packed-in zones. While Best is a better shooter than Strickland, he isn't nearly the penetrator or passer. He is also 30, and he has a bad back. Just staying healthy all year and repeating what Strickland achieved last season would be a best-case scenario.

Best is still a godsend when compared with his backup. Last year Anthony Carter attempted 19 3-pointers, and made exactly one of them. He shot 34 percent overall, and he and Milwaukee's Joel Przybilla were the only NBA players to play more than 1,000 minutes but score fewer than 200 points. While his defense is commendable, he is such a nightmare on offense that he is still a major liability, and the guaranteed three-year deal that Riley foolishly gave him is probably the only thing keeping him in the league.

When will Pat pull the plug?

The Heat are a salary cap nightmare. They have three maximum contracts surrounded by various scraps and reclamation projects (with the exception of Butler). Riley whiffed on his one chance to get younger and more athletic last year when he traded Ricky Davis for Chris Gatling, and now it's time to pay the piper.

Unfortunately, Riley can't bring himself to blow this thing up and start over, which is going to make the descent longer and more painful than it needs to be. The obvious step the team has to take, unfortunately, is to trade Mourning, shop Grant and Jones, and start over from square one. The only person who has yet to sign off on this idea is Riley, who instead has squandered money on declining veteran role players like LaPhonso Ellis and Kendall Gill. That Riley can coach with anyone is beyond dispute; however, his general manager performance has been a case study in the art of denial.

Too untalented

Fast Facts • Last year the Heat averaged just 87.2 points per game and allowed only 88.7 -- both of which were the lowest in the league. • Miami rebounded 74 percent of opponents' missed shots, the best mark in the league.

The Heat will play tough defense, and nobody will hustle more; Riley will make sure of that. The question that remains, however, is how this team will score any points. The point guard situation is shaky, and the bench is a nightmare. If Butler isn't ready to contribute immediately, the small forward spot will belong to Jim Jackson (assuming he re-signs) and LaPhonso Ellis. Those two would have made a good combo in 1994, but are seriously lacking now. Because of the Heat's luxury tax situation, they have zero ability to remedy their talent deficit without unloading Mourning.

Riley's coaching will keep the Heat hanging around the fringes of the playoff race all season, but it's hard to see this team accomplishing anything more than that. It's no stretch to imagine that this mostly aged, largely talentless roster will be less competitive than it was a year ago.