The Miami Heat stumbled on to a plan during the playoffs and it looks like they’re going to keep that plan going through next season and beyond. When Chris Bosh was injured the Heat modified their line up from two power forwards to moving Shane Battier in to the starting line up. When Chris Bosh returned, the Heat moved Udonis Haslem to the bench and stayed with their small ball line up.
When free agnecy started the Heat agreed to a deal with Ray Allen. You know him, arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history. Now the Heat have added another shooter in Rashard Lewis who, on paper, surround LeBron James and Dwyane Wade with weapons to keep the lane wide open. Lewis’ agent tells Fox Sports Florida that Allen’s signing heavily influenced his former Super Sonic teammate.
“They are very, very close,” Jarrel Hartfield said of Allen and Lewis. “And Rashard’s mom and Ray Allen’s mom are very close. I would go up there (to Seattle when Allen and Lewis were teammates), and I would see that.”
Lewis was awful last season, but he also was hurt and played for an awful team. On the Heat, if he’s healthy and not completely washed up he can be deadly. Lewis can still hit a corner three and be a good team defender. I can’t imagine the Heat are going to ask him to do much else and I can’t imagine they’re going to ask him to do it for more than 15 or 20 minutes a night. The Heat won’t be short on shooters if Lewis doesn’t work out. Allen is the big piece here. His ankle should be healthy and he should still be able to bury wide open 3’s and they will be wide open if the Heat play like they did against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Finals.
