Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng, Chris Bosh, Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside will start for the Miami Heat if everyone arrives healthy. Good luck finding a better starting five in the Eastern Conference, especially if Whiteside continues to emerge as a potential Anthony Davis-type player. (Not with Anthony Davis-type production, of course, not yet — but possessing a physical skill set that makes Whiteside hard to compare to anyone else.)
[Flameout Hassan Whiteside Is Now Tearing Up The NBA]
Last year when Whiteside first began his surge, the injury-plagued Heat held opponents to just 95 points per 100 possessions when he was in the game. That’s a figure that would lead the league, better even than what the Golden State Warriors were doing. Heat president Pat Riley was on the Dan Le Batard show this week saying the Heat are real contenders. Lots of things, Riley said, have to happen (he emphasized health) — but that with a few good breaks the Heat can win another championship, Riley believes. After decades in the game, Riley still knows only what everyone else knows about what turns a contender into a champion: “It’s going to come down to can you make shots?”
