The big story with the Heat is the play of  Jermaine O’Neal, i know its still really early in the season and they havent played against a big time frontline yet, but it looks like JO is back…. at least for now. The Heat’s frontline has played a lot then i expected thus far, Beasley is still a work in progress on defense but i see a lot of improvement in that area from his rookie season.

The Heat are playing well right now, Wade has had a few bad games recently for his standards but that dunk on Varejao makes up for it. The Heat’s bench is thin and inconsistent besides Haslem and Chalmers isnt having the type of year i expected. The Heat could use making a few moves but Riley looks like hes gonna stand pat for the free agency gold rush this July.

The Heat didnt do anything in the offseason to improve their roster, so if the Heat see any improvement this season it’ll have to come from growth from Mario Chalmers, Michael Beasley and Daequan Cook. Dwyane Wade had a career season last year, carrying his team to the 5th seed and losing in 7 games in the first round. Can Wade suit up for 70-80 games again this season? If he can the Heat will make the playoffs, if he cant…. then this season might end badly. Michael Beasley with be the other key factor this season besides Wade’s health, can Beasley get past his demons and play like the player miami expected when drafting him 2nd overall out of Kansas State?

Key Additions: Quentin Richardson

Key Subtractions: None

Projected Starting Lineup: Mario Chalmers/ Dwyane Wade/ James Jones/ Michael Beasley/ Jermaine O’Neal

Key Reserves: Udonis Haslem, Daequan Cook, Joel Anthony, Jamaal Magloire, Chris Quinn

-Bennice