As the 2012 Off-Season continues the NBA Vine Report will recap each team’s progress in several areas: Players Obtained, Players Lost, Short Term Outlook, and Long Term Outlook. The rankings for each category will then be combined to give an overall ranking for the “state of the organization” score.
We will start with the reigning NBA Champions and work our way down to the lowly Bobcats.
Miami Heat 2012 State of the Organization (as of 7/19/2012):
Photo Courtesy of the Sun Sentinel
Players Lost: Eddy Curry, Mickell Gladness, Terrel Harris, Juwan Howard, Ronny Turiaf
The list of players not currently on the Heat Roster is a testament to how talented the top end of the roster was last season and also begs the question if “Players Lost” is really an appropriate term for this lot. With Turiaf being the only player to provide significant minutes last season, it is unlikely he will return as he has surprisingly declined his 1.2 mil. option. While his enthusiasm will be missed, it will not impact the teams overall production.
1-10 Score: 9
Players Obtained: Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis
The rich get richer. In a somewhat stunning move, Jesus Shuttlesworth spurned the parochial and dedicated Boston faithful for the untaxed and tanned fans of Miami. While the Heat relied on an inconsistent Battier and a broken Mike Miller last season, they will now feature one of the greatest three point shooters of all time who has performed under championship terms before. Rashard Lewis could be a candidate for a huge career revival, at 32 there is still time for Lewis to return to a version of his once prolific self in a limited but crucial role for the Heat. The only question is whether or not the Heat should have upgraded at the center position as they will once again head into the season with a rag-tag ensemble of Pittman, Haslem and Joel Anthony.
1-10 Score: 9
Short Term Outlook: Having just won the Championship with LeBron James hitting his peak, Dwayne Wade evolving into a supporting role and Bosh fully embracing his importance to the team, it is hard to argue the short term outlook is anything but peachy for this squad. Add in the presence of productive veterans who have one to three years left in them, things couldn’t get much better for Riley and Co.
1-10 Score: 10
Long Term Outlook: There is a lot of debate over whether or not Wade is slowing as he enters his early 30’s but what can’t be debated is that he is—and always has been—a bit injury prone. While James has fully taken the reigns of this team, a healthy and productive Wade is obviously essential; his health could be this team’s kryptonite down the road. Chalmers is slowly turning into a respectable PG while trying to shed the little brother treatment from LeBron and Co. Beyond that, this team has very little going on in long term prospects (not that it is necessarily needed).
1-10 Score: 7
State of the Organization Index: 35 of 40
Up Tomorrow, Friday July 20th: The Oklahoma City Thunder