1. Will LeBron, Wade and Bosh create synergy or
chaos?
Henry Abbott, TrueHoop: James and Wade were
delightfully selfless and energetic on Team USA. Both revel in making
the right play, the extra pass and the like. And with their wallets they
are making clear that they love the idea of playing together. I think
it'll be synergy, for sure. Don't really understand exactly how Bosh
fits in, but when the roster is more complete that will make more sense,
I assume.
J.A. Adande, ESPN.com: Synergy. The first
inclination of both LeBron and Wade is to make the right play. If that
means passing, they'll pass. If they need to take over, they will.
They've got two players who demand defensive attention. I'd love to see
how Tom Thibodeau will scheme against them. Bosh will take his place.
He'd better. He hit the lottery.
Kevin Arnovitz,
TrueHoop: It's hard to fathom that James, Wade and Bosh haven't
discussed both the on-court and off-court ramifications of playing
together. Will the pressure of NBA play and the level of competition
allow the Heat to recreate the selfless magic of Team USA? Probably not.
But winning is an elixir for chaos.
Chad Ford, ESPN.com: Synergy. Say
what you will about LeBron's ego in making this into a spectacle, but on
the court he's an unselfish player. Wade will be the dominant scorer.
Bosh is a great fit with his game. And I expect we'll see LeBron fall
into a Magic Johnson facilitator role.
John Hollinger,
ESPN.com: Synergy. They clearly enjoyed playing with each other
during the Olympics and in All-Star Games and they'll create total havoc
in the open court. Bosh in particular takes nothing away from the other
two; it will be the interplay between James and Wade that will be the
most interesting part to watch.
Chris Sheridan,
ESPN.com: There will be a steep learning curve, and the best way to
look at how they'll coexist is to go back to the Beijing Olympics when
both Bosh and Wade came off the bench because there was too much talent
to fit them all in the starting five. All three were finishers, however,
for Team USA, and that team did win the gold medal, so success is
within their reach. But Bosh is going to take a pounding from opposing
bigs, and let's not kid ourselves: Wade and LBJ are both going to want
to take the final shot when it comes down to a final shot situation. So
at first, chaos. Later, synergy. They've got five years to figure it
out.
Marc Stein, ESPN.com: There will be chaos only
if they, say, start out with a couple second-round exits in a row and
their chemistry/unity succumbs to the external pressure. Or if the next
collective bargaining agreement is so onerous that teams can't afford
three superstars with any hope of putting quality players around them.
I'm not expecting issues otherwise.
These guys are
friends. These guys have already played together with Team USA and
plotted this whole thing together. This is not the same as Jerry
West and Elgin Baylor trying to make room for the gargantuan personality
of Wilt Chamberlain late in their careers. I'm as turned off by the way
LeBron exited his home state as anyone. His lack of grace and
compassion -- given what his long-suffering fellow Ohioans have been
through for decades -- is unspeakably disappointing. But none of that
has anything to do with how LeBron, D-Wade and Bosh are going to
function as a trio.
2. Who should take last shot: LeBron, Wade, Bosh or
whoever is open?
Abbott: As Kobe Bryant wheels on
the sideline, double-teamed, and fires up an air ball with the game on
the line (only to be bailed out by Ron Artest), I think we all can see
the flaws in the "that guy has to shoot it" approach. You have good
shooters stand in places on the court where they can hit shots, and you
take the best shot the defense will give you. I know it seems like it's
magical and different with the game on the line, but it's still
basketball. What works all game is a good idea in crunch time, too.
Bosh,
Wade and Bron don't have to wait until the All-Star Game to play
alongside each other anymore.
Adande:
I'd let LeBron take the last shot at the end of the first three
quarters, Wade at the end of the game. But just think of the advantage
Pat Riley, er, Erik Spoelstra will have when diagramming late-game plays
in the huddle. The defense won't be able to deny both LeBron and Wade
the ball.
Arnovitz: That's the beauty of this
arrangement, isn't it? James, Wade and Bosh each have the will and the
capacity to produce in a crucial situation. What's less clear is how
many tight games the Heat will actually play. As Daryl Morey says, "Good
teams don't win close games -- they avoid them."
Ford:
Wade. He's better than anyone in the NBA at creating his own shot. But
the truth is, all three are great options. It will be tough for defenses
to plan for them. That's the strength of this unit.
Hollinger:
Whoever is open, of course. But a better question is "who should have
the ball at the start of the play?" And to that, I think the answer
changes between LeBron and Wade every night depending on matchups and
game flow.
Sheridan: D-Wade. It is still his
team.
Stein: Who do you guard on the last shot?
That's the better question. Even the guys who eventually surround these
three are going to be better than they've ever been.
3. Rank the NBA's top five teams going into the 2010-11
season.
Abbott: 1. Lakers; 2. Magic; 3. Heat; 4.
Spurs; 5. Celtics
Adande: 1. Lakers; 2. Celtics; 3.
Magic; 4. Heat; 5. Thunder
Arnovitz: 1. Heat; 2.
Lakers; 3. Magic; 4. Celtics; 5. Rockets
Ford: 1.
Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Magic; 4. Mavericks; 5. Celtics
Hollinger:
1. Lakers; 2. Magic; 3. Heat; 4. Thunder; 5. Celtics
Sheridan:
1. Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Celtics; 4. Thunder; 5. Rockets
Stein:
1. Lakers; 2. Heat; 3. Celtics; 4. Magic; 5. Thunder/Bulls
4. How many NBA titles will the Heat win during the
next five years?
Abbott: Two.
Adande:
Two.
Arnovitz: Over-under of 3.5. Even if the Heat
are odds-on favorites each season, percentages dictate that in a
five-year sample, they're bound to trip up once or twice. And don't
discount the Lakers' willingness to reload in this arms race.
Ford:
Three. I think Year 1 may be a work in progress and the Heat may need
another offseason to put all the pieces in place. But if they don't win
three titles in the course of those next four years, it'd be a major
upset.
Hollinger: I'll go with three. I don't think
they'll win it this year because there are too many holes to fill, but
once they can use their exceptions and draft picks to fill out the
roster they'll be unbeatable. The biggest obstacle is the new CBA -- if
they institute a hard cap with no exceptions, the Heat might not win any
titles.
Sheridan: One or two. Any team that can put
together a front line like the Lakers' can take 'em -- but it won't be
easy.
Stein: Two is the reasonable ceiling as things
stand on July 9, 2010. The Lakers are too big and championship-tested
to be shoved out of the way easily. Just getting out of the East -- even
when age finally ends Boston's run -- is going to be a chore every year
if Orlando keeps spending money on the cast around Dwight Howard and
Chicago adds wisely to the Derrick Rose-Joakim Noah-Carlos Boozer
triumvirate.
5.
LeBron's legacy after his seven years with the Cavs and his departure?
Abbott: People seem to be in a mood to judge him very
harshly, but it's not fair. He played as well as any other player in the
NBA, made far less money than he earned for the team and hardly ever
had a bad game. And lots of people with options have left Cleveland
through the years, which sounds harsher than I mean it.
Adande:
He made the Cavaliers relevant and took the franchise to its only NBA
Finals. As much as his departure stings, would Cavs fans rather have the
excitement and promise of the past seven years or the mediocrity that
preceded it? It's far too early to speak of his career legacy. At a
similar age Shaq was a guy who left his team without even winning a
Finals game. He went on to win four championships in seven years. LeBron
is still more Next than Never.
[+] Enlarge
LeBron
James has gone from hero to villain in Cleveland.
Arnovitz:
Although James was unable to deliver a championship to Cleveland, he
revived a dormant franchise and electrified a region. Most relationships
in sports between superstar and fan are terminal, and the bond between
James and Cleveland fans is no different. I'm not a Cavs fan, so I asked
a die-hard one from Ohio whom I know well. This was his response:
"James'
legacy will be he didn't accomplish what he said he was going to do.
LeBron said this himself, 'I got a goal, and it's a huge goal, and that
is to bring an NBA championship here to Cleveland. And I won't stop
until I get it.' If he leaves he will leave as a failure in that way,
and his legacy will be that he couldn't get it done even though Dan
Gilbert did everything possible to put the pieces around him that he
could. LeBron said it above, and I think it is those words above that
will haunt Cleveland fans."
Hollinger: At the
moment it's disappointment at their inability to win a title; in a few
years, however, these will be seen as the Good Old Days in Cleveland and
be looked upon much more fondly, akin to Barkley's time in Philly or
Garnett's years in Minnesota.
Sheridan: He becomes
Art Modell 2.0. He broke their hearts. His legacy in Cleveland will be
this: He was a player who didn't show up for his final home game in a
Cavs uniform, a player who FAILED.
Stein: It's
utterly and totally destroyed. From the moment people started asking
legacy questions after the Boston series, I've maintained that the only
way LeBron's meek playoff exit got stamped permanently on his resume was
if he left the Cavs. It would have eventually been reduced to mere
footnote status had he stayed, just like Kobe Bryant's forgettable Game 7
in Phoenix in 2006 that almost never gets brought up anymore because
Kobe has since won two titles without Shaq. Now the opposite is true.
LeBron leaving the Cavs and his home state in ruins -- in a
one-hour TV special that he and his "team" conceived -- will make him
the biggest sports villain in Cleveland history. Bigger than Michael
Jordan. Bigger than Art Modell. The fact that LeBron is wearing someone
else's uniform is going to be thrust in the face of Clevelanders every
day because of the saturation coverage he gets. Clevelanders won't be
able to dodge the sight of LeBron in Heat colors ... and thus he'll
never be able to dodge their wrath.