The Heat are going to be just fine. In essence this is still their preseason since Wade was injured the whole preseason and they never had time to work together. It's going to take some time for all 3 guys to mesh and the regular season doesn't mean shit anyways, and as flawed as they are they will still make the postseason just feasting on the bad teams in the NBA. What the Heat does in the postseason is how they should be graded.

For the most part this is going to be an up and down season while they learn to play together. Their biggest needs are at center and point guard, and right now they can't make any trades until the deadline passes for trading players that just signed as free agents this past offseason. Even then I can't see them getting much since they don't have any draft picks to trade for the next several seasons. I can see them filling the point guard role later in the season when some veterans get cut or agree to buyouts. Those kind of players will be clamoring to join the Heat on minimum salary deals.

As for the center position, all I can say is just wait until next year. The Heat have a young center from the University of Texas that is going to be a BEAST in the NBA, Dexter Pittman. At one point at UT he was over 400 lbs, but he has slimmed down to around 290 and is still losing weight, and he is playing very well in the NBA's development league. With a year of seasoning and conditioning Pittman will be a beast of a center, mark my words...

if you're a sports fan last night was sickening beyond the microcosm of Lebron Jame's return to Cleveland. It's not just Lebron, it's all professional athletes now, they are loyal to nobody, if anybody they are loyal to their union brethren - the players they are supposed to compete with and in days gone by, HATE! it's nothing more than exhibition games now, players on opposing teams laughing and joking, hugs, pats on the bum,before the game, after the game and for fucks sake DURING the game. The NBA is the absolute worst but the other leagues are heading the same way.

To any of those fans last night in Cleveland you would have to be a complete idiot not to reflect upon yourself and your passion and support for pro sports after watching the Cavaliers welcome Lebron back like an old friend and play as if they wanted to help him have a triumphant return. It was disgusting.

It's why I now love the NFL so much more than any other sport - because there are no guaranteed contracts, careers are short, the union weak - plus the sheer brutality of the sport innoculates it to this point from turning into the mockery that is the NBA.

That's is why I love college football and basketball. I sure some of those athletes are probably getting paid also. .:upsidedow

Look busy; Jesus is coming!

Well put!

I'd love to see a Cav player hit LeBron like Richard Seymour did to Big Ben. That's passion! Clevelanders were discusted by last night on many levels. If I were those players, I'd have some serious issues with LeBron leaving them after he told them he can win a championship while there. Then he leaves and says he's got a better shot in Miami? I'd be pissed as a player.

Some of the knocks on Lebron have gone too far I think. Does anyone remember the Bulls finals vs the Suns? Jordan and Barkley had dinner between the games. Magic commented that he would never have gone to dinner with an opposing player during a series. Now everyone's saying they would have never teamed up with another superstar like Lebron and Wade did. It's the same "back in my day" complaint over something else.

I will agree he made it tough on Cavs fans to hear it on an ESPN special that wreaked of his arrogance. But many of the current NBA players would hold a special like that if they could. I think money was a big issue for Lebron moving to Miami. He's going to save millions on the no state tax.

I agree about the back in the day thing. I used to hate to hear the older players say that. they sounded like haters.

But the money issue I don't think had any part of it. Those endorsement deals make up for it and he would have had that no matter where he played. He would have had more deals since he'd be considered a "loyal" local town hero. Sponsors love to be associated with loyalty. How many sponsors want to be associated with a trader or someone who wasn't classy about their actions? That's his new perception, my guess is he would have made way more in endorsements had he stayed and played cool with the city.

Maybe he lost some future endorsements but I'm sure his major deals are already locked in such his Nike, Sprite, and McDonald's deals.

As a Cleveland fan all of my life I have to say this-

I love Cleveland, and I love the fans.
The fans ( me included) deserved more from LeBron than his fuck you speech on ESPN.

I can't blame him for leaving, I live in SoCal now for 15 yrs cause I hated living in Cleveland.

However I am not God in Cleveland like LeBron was and don't make a Billion dollars.

It wasn't until after I left Cleveland that I became a God.

lol

How are you Mike FOLD?????

Long time brotha!

Dang... You don't even underscore that name?

That's hardcore!

So if you're a g_d, then I'm Zeus?

Cav fans need to get over it. They act like an ugly dude that just got dumped by his hot girlfriend that he had no business having in the first place. The more whiny and loud they get, the more pathetic they appear.

Lebron upgraded, like any man would do when the opportunity arises.

I live in cleveland and no one who lives here with a life gives a fuck about lebron...go browns, cavs, indians, and buckeyes