The story of the ill-fated 2015-16 Miami Heat

On paper, one of the better Heat rosters in the post-LeBron era

The 2015-16 Miami Heat were one of my personal favorite Heat teams. From top to bottom, that team constructed was built for an NBA Championship. Starting the season with a stacked starting five of a prime Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade (All-Star), three and D Loul Deng, a recovered Chris Bosh (All-Star), and a on-the-rise star Hassan Whiteside.

They had a very formidable bench as well, with promising rookies Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson in addition to quality veterans such as Gerald Green, Mario Chalmers, Amar’e Stoudemire, Josh McRoberts, and Chris Anderson. All very serviceable role players for a team that has championship experience and great team chemistry.

During the season Miami dealt fan favorites Mario Chalmers and Chris “Birdman” Anderson to the Memphis Grizzlies. After that they picked up seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson from the Brooklyn Nets after agreeing to a buyout. The Johnson pick up was key for this team after hearing some very devastating news.

In now back-to-back seasons, Chris Bosh ended his season at the All-Star break once again due to very serious blood clotting issues. It was a huge blow to the team after showing so much promise to make a run for the NBA Finals.

That Heat team played very well against top teams in the league. Some notable wins include beating the HoustonRockets 109-89 at home, the Toronto Raptors 96-76 at home and the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-84 at home and also 122-101 at home.

That Heat team beat Cleveland two out of the three times they played them that year and they were both by large margins.

In the season prior, Miami also showed they can keep up with Cleveland, beating them two times in blow out fashion as well. Even without their All-Star Bosh, Miami finished 3rd in the East with a 48-34 record, 1st place in the division and made it to a Game 7 of the Conference Semifinals. A big part of that was led by Dwyane Wade, who was in the “father prime” stage of his career. Although at this point Wade was getting up in age and showed signs of less athleticism to his game, he was still a major problem for other opponents. He was crafty and had a high basketball IQ, and was still able to get to his spots on the floor and do damage.

To go along with the steady All-Star numbers he put up that year, he was our go-to guy in the clutch. And he delivered on several big time shots for Miami, playoffs especially. Who could forget Wade vs Purple Shirt Man?

However, a lot of people forget just how dominant a young Hassan Whiteside was…

I personally believe if Whiteside did not get hurt in Game 3 of that series, they still could have beaten the Toronto Raptors in the semi’s and had a chance to go against Cleveland.

They just didn’t have enough fire power with two very key starters out. Who knows exactly what would have happened if things went Miami’s way that season, but what I can say is the 2015-16 Miami Heat had the potential to make the NBA Finals and quite possibly lift the trophy.