There’s an ideology in sports that says, “Just get in the tournament and see what happens.”
LeBron James puts the Miami Heat in the tournament.
What, exactly, does that mean?
LeBron, the four-time NBA champion and four-time MVP who is mulling whether to re-join Miami as a free agent, is certainly still good enough to help the Heat make something happen in the tournament — in this case, the playoffs.
Don’t think of the regular season with this acquisition — think of the postseason. This is about winning a championship. The question is how the Heat get from here to there.
The Heat’s biggest advantages in the LeBron sweepstakes are likely LeBron’s philosophical alignments with president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra (playing good defense, surrounding quality players with good shooters, etc.), and nostalgia, dating to his memorable time in Miami from 2010-14.
There’s something else that could be appealing to LeBron about re-joining the Heat: For one of the few times in his career, he could be the second- or third-best player on his team.
Visualize a Miami Heat Top 3 of LeBron, recently-acquired superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo and star big man Bam Adebayo, surrounded by complementary shooters. They’d have size, veteran talent, offense, defense and game-closing skills on both ends of the court, as well as long-range offensive options.
In that scenario, the Heat could cause lots of problems for opponents in a best-of-seven playoff series.
The issue for the Heat is that LeBron has several other options. And the Heat, who he helped win titles in 2012 and 2013, might not be his No. 1 option.
There’s Philadelphia, Cleveland, Golden State, Denver and Minnesota.
Each, after acquiring LeBron, would seem closer to a title than the Heat.
By the way, we don’t know when LeBron, who recently announced he won’t return to the Los Angeles Lakers, will make his decision. It’s a waiting game. So we’ll wait. But the stakes are high.
The 2023 Heat, led by Jimmy Butler, are a testament to making noise once you get in the tournament. They were a No. 8 seed who surprisingly advanced to the NBA Finals, partly because they upset top-seeded Milwaukee in the first round after Giannis sustained a back injury.
LeBron makes such an extended Heat playoff run a real possibility.
There’s no single offseason acquisition that could do for the Heat what LeBron could do. There are few combinations of available free agents that could do for the Heat what LeBron could do.
Keep thinking big picture.
LeBron would like to add another title to his unique legacy. He no longer needs credit for being the driving force behind a title. He’d probably be happy to give all the credit for a Heat title to Giannis, Bam and Riley.
It’s funny how things change over a period of years, or a period of weeks.
Plan A for the Heat this offseason was acquiring Giannis, the best player available, in a blockbuster trade with Milwaukee. Mission accomplished.
But simply adding Giannis doesn’t make the Heat a title contender.
Miami needs the unexpected addendum, and that’s LeBron.
If Miami gets LeBron, and adds some shooters and backcourt players, both now and closer to the trade deadline, it vaults to being a plausible contender in the East. The Heat would be behind the NBA champion New York Knicks and possibly Philadelphia, which acquired former Boston star Jaylen Brown. But perhaps they’d be fighting to be alongside Detroit, Toronto, Boston and Cleveland.
If Miami doesn’t get LeBron, it fields a team with a Top 3 of Giannis, Bam and veteran forward Bobby Portis, complemented by forward Andrew Wiggins. That probably puts the Heat below first-round homecourt advantage in the East but above play-in level, which has been Miami’s recent postseason destination.
Clearly, there’s no equally exciting Plan B in this case.
By the way, ignore that frosty Heat-LeBron breakup in 2014 and the “smiling faces with hidden agendas” dagger that Riley seemingly threw toward LeBron in 2015.
Lots of Heat superstars have a rocky departure and then get welcomed back into the fold. Tim Hardaway. Alonzo Mourning. Shaquille O’Neal. Dwyane Wade. This LeBron-Heat reunion has seemingly already crossed that bridge.
And the reunion would work on a few levels. LeBron makes teammates better. LeBron values defense. LeBron remains a quality late-game scoring option. LeBron stays healthy. LeBron sets a good example for youngsters. LeBron is like having another coach on the floor.
Plus, he remains a valuable recruiter for all of the above reasons.
None of this means LeBron is a panacea. He’s human. He’s obviously not the same player he was in 2013. Or even 2016.
LeBron won a title with the Lakers in 2020. But they only won three playoff series in his seven non-title seasons.
That wasn’t all LeBron’s fault, of course. The point here is that LeBron isn’t a one-man answer, especially considering he’ll turn 42 soon.
Still, he remains a difference-maker at both ends of the court and in the locker room.
We just don’t know if philosophy and nostalgia will be enough to secure his services.
We’ll all eagerly await his decision.