“I never had an opportunity to move him for the kind of haul that some of these other deals are producing. But for us to end up with a couple of first-round picks, it was a nice way to segue toward the future.
“As long as we weren’t strapped with a $126 million contract and the inability to really build around the player, we feel like this is probably the best thing that could have happened to us.’’
Humbled Heat remake offense
IN POST POSITION The Heat, in a new humbled state since their disposal in the Finals at the hands of the Mavericks, prepared for this season as if the last one never happened. While they are the prohibitive favorites to win the Eastern Conference, there is a large sense of embarrassment still hovering around AmericanAirlines Arena after the Heat melted in the final three games against Dallas.
In the offseason, coach Erik Spoelstra changed the offense to emphasize LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in the post. While both are streaky 3-point shooters - James shot down the Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals - neither attempted a 3-pointer through the first three games.
James especially is flourishing in the offense, averaging 33.0 points and shooting nearly 60 percent from the field. Wade is shooting 47 percent and appears to be taking more time to get comfortable in the new role.
With James and Wade in the post, Chris Bosh may be pushed to the perimeter. He is playing more center down the stretch of games as Spoelstra uses Udonis Haslem at power forward and replaced Joel Anthony with Bosh.
Bosh has a polished perimeter game, but the Heat didn’t exactly sign him to launch long jumpers off the break.
“It’s a feeling-out process,’’ said Bosh. “With this offense I’m going to be trailing a lot. So it takes some getting used to. Sometimes it’s a race to the post and those guys [James and Wade] are fast, so nine times out of 10, I’m not going to beat them there.
“The way we’re structured, I have to kind of pick and choose my spots a little more. That’s kind of what we signed up for when we came here, is being more efficient.’’
