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I certainly feel that way but if Lebron starts being a beast in the post and Bosh starts being more dominate, well than maybe I'll change my mind.

For now though I feel the Heat's championship window goes as Wade's prime goes.

Yes he choked Game 4 of the Finals away and in Game 2 all he had to say was "Give me the damn ball!" when the Mavs were starting their comeback.

Choked on his leadership in Game 2 and plain choked in Game 4.

I know hes not perfect but I honestly feel without Wade Heats window is gone.

I know people are going to say "Well Wade stunk against Bulls and Lebron closed the Celtics out" yeah I'm aware of that but I still feel more confident in a Wade team then a Lebron team.

Think it's based on offensive chemistry. If we can install some sort of offensive scheme on our big 3 other than having them 1 on 1, we'll be fine. I think each of the 3 are capable of playing off the ball, but our offense was just too simple and not creative at all.

No, Kobe has declined and all of the Big 3 Celtics have. The key is adding new players (like Rondo) to make up for any decline in your top players.

No b/c a past his prime Wade could still be a highly effective NBA player especially come playoff time. The Heat winning championships in the future is dependent on
1 - Having good luck and staying healthy as a team,
2- Developing as a team on offense. Wade and Lebron need to become more comfortable in the post and more willing shooters.
3 - On adding new players to improve the depth of the roster.

Every team that wins a title has role players who have great moments in each playoff series. We had it from haslem and Miller before the finals but no one did anything to help in the finals.

Moggs24 wrote:No b/c a past his prime Wade could still be a highly effective NBA player especially come playoff time. The Heat winning championships in the future is dependent on
1 - Having good luck and staying healthy as a team,
2- Developing as a team on offense. Wade and Lebron need to become more comfortable in the post and more willing shooters.
3 - On adding new players to improve the depth of the roster.

Every team that wins a title has role players who have great moments in each playoff series. We had it from haslem and Miller before the finals but no one did anything to help in the finals.

No way. A Wade past his prime is still helpful like Moggs24 stated. We really need a team offense, its actually pathetic when you think about the tallent on this team and we still struggle with offense. Ideally a new PG or even better moving Wade to PG and allowing the team to get a defensive specialist at sg/sf would do wonder. No more Wade/Lebron running around covering the opposing teams best players and just focus on offense

Kidd and Terry played KEY roles for the Mavs and they aren't exactly spring chickens.

Even a 35-36 year old Wade (Long time from now) will be useful. Even if he becomes a 3rd option on this team, he'll be better than the majority of 3rd options IMO.

We may not be as 'feared' but LBJ + Bosh is more than enough to contend and win a title.

We'll be fine.

Shame that #2 pick didn't turn into something good though, can you imagine if we had a Wade/Rose/Bosh/LeBron core? And yes, that would've been possible, we basically picked Mike Miller over Beasley, I think we'd take Rose over Miller.

If Jordan and Kobe can win championships into their 30's, so can Wade. Playing in panic mode of winning a championship now makes it even harder to win one.

Nope, the Heats title window is based upon Lebron's prime and the collective effort of the big 3. Like other people said Wade will still be effective for seasons to come, especially if he can improve at creating for others.

Heat title window is closing yet. Needs to play with high post offense and not that Isolation that really killed them in the Finals.

I think the real questions we have to ask ourselves are:

a) How long is Wade's prime going to last? Because I think it'll last longer than some might assume.
b) Isn't a better offense the real key to us being contenders for a long time? Just look at Boston. Their extremely efficient offense is part of the reason they're still that good.

a) I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'll be a top 5 or 6 talent until 34 or so, or around 4 more seasons. Definitely more than some think, but if you consider the mileage on him, its way less than a player like Kobe, who was still going pretty strong this year at 32. His injured years almost serve the same purpose MJ's first retirement did, in terms of extending his prime.

b) I think the criticisms of our offense are overstated. The Finals were lost as much on the defensive end as they were offensively (Dallas lit us up in game 6). I think these guys getting more comfortable with each other will be a natural progression, Boston's offense wasn't as good as it was last year the first year they played together.

Tim_Hardawayy wrote:a) I'm going to go out on a limb and say he'll be a top 5 or 6 talent until 34 or so, or around 4 more seasons. Definitely more than some think, but if you consider the mileage on him, its way less than a player like Kobe, who was still going pretty strong this year at 32. His injured years almost serve the same purpose MJ's first retirement did, in terms of extending his prime.

b) I think the criticisms of our offense are overstated. The Finals were lost as much on the defensive end as they were offensively (Dallas lit us up in game 6). I think these guys getting more comfortable with each other will be a natural progression, Boston's offense wasn't as good as it was last year the first year they played together.

a) I agree but there are people who think at 32 he's going to be much worse due to a decline of athleticism.

b) My point wasn't so much about efficiency or inefficiency of our offense and defense for that matter but moreso about how it wears our players out more than it does other players.

Wade will be a top 5 player for the next 6 years for sure.(Barring Injury)

Wade needs to transition to point guard. If only to get lebron playing off the ball more.

no

first of all I still think that Lebron can be the clear cut nr. 1 offensive option, so if Wades athleticism is fading away he could still take the role a Terry took in the Mavs finals run (2nd option, spot up, backdoor cuts)
second thing is: give the core some time.
we reached the damn finals in our first year with a lot of injuries. who knows what a healthy roster with strong teamplay will achieve?

no, if the Knicks get Dwight Howard then I guarantee Phil Jackson will sign on to be the coach the very next day because Dolan will pay him 15 million a year(he's not stingy like Jerry Buss) and Phil gets to finish his career where he started, his perfect storybook ending. The Heat big 3 with a declining Wade is just simply not enough to take on a prime Melo-Amare-Dwight-Phil Jackson quartet.

Wade needs to play at the level he is at for the next 4 years if we want a dynasty and I think he can. My only worry is he is a small guard 2-guard so he can't change his game like Kobe and MJ did and post-up. and he's not as good of a shooter as those two either.

Dantares wrote:no, if the Knicks get Dwight Howard then I guarantee Phil Jackson will sign on to be the coach the very next day because Dolan will pay him 15 million a year(he's not stingy like Jerry Buss) and Phil gets to finish his career where he started, his perfect storybook ending. The Heat big 3 with a declining Wade is just simply not enough to take on a prime Melo-Amare-Dwight-Phil Jackson quartet.

Wade needs to play at the level he is at for the next 4 years if we want a dynasty and I think he can. My only worry is he is a small guard 2-guard so he can't change his game like Kobe and MJ did and post-up. and he's not as good of a shooter as those two either.

i disagree

if wade can learn to play so much without his atheltism, which i believe he can, like develop his mid range shot like it used to be, the heat will be better than they ever were before because wade will therefore also be a better off ball player, and where does phil factor into this? i dont think he wants to coach anymore, he could of got the money but he didnt want to, also i think the heat can beat that team.

Dantares wrote:no, if the Knicks get Dwight Howard then I guarantee Phil Jackson will sign on to be the coach the very next day because Dolan will pay him 15 million a year(he's not stingy like Jerry Buss) and Phil gets to finish his career where he started, his perfect storybook ending. The Heat big 3 with a declining Wade is just simply not enough to take on a prime Melo-Amare-Dwight-Phil Jackson quartet.

Wade needs to play at the level he is at for the next 4 years if we want a dynasty and I think he can. My only worry is he is a small guard 2-guard so he can't change his game like Kobe and MJ did and post-up. and he's not as good of a shooter as those two either.

Yeah, because he barely ever posted up last season.
Also, how likely is it that Dwight will even sign in New York? And even if he will, what makes you think that they'll be such a great basketball team? As great as the level of individual talent would be, it's still a team game and we've all seen other teams filled with stars fail miserably.

It's like people have forgotten how Wade was without his ridiculously quick first step,hops and overall speed, that Wade was still an All-star.