If The Heat Had Chris Paul instead of LeBron...

[Cman]

If wishes were pennies...

 

[celticsmaniac18]

take bosh out n put cp3 in. thatd be better.

[BballTim]

take bosh out n put cp3 in. thatd be better.

  They won't be better because they'll be weaker inside. Plus CP won't solve the issue. Out of the big three, KG and RA work best with Rondo. PP and Rondo are fine in transition and when PP spots up for a three but Rondo doesn't help PP as much when Paul has the ball in an iso.

[snively]

The problems thus far with Bron/Wade pairing on offense isn't so much the ball-dominance: it's that neither can really bring out a dimension in the other's game, cover up the other's weakness or make each other's lives easier other than absorbing some of each other's scoring burdens to free up energy for defense. 

CP3, though a ball-dominator, would complement one of them much better than they do each other.  Teams have to extend their defenses against a CP3 pick and roll/pop because he's so deadly pulling up for the 3 or the mid-range J, creating a lot of slashing opportunities for team-mates against a stretched D.  They'd also have to respect him more as an off-ball shooter.  And they could even run pick and rolls together, much like Rondo and Pierce do.

Their defense would be a lot less daunting without the Wade/Bron pairing on the wings though. 

[KCattheStripe]

The other thing is Lebron is not a quitter, Wade is.

False. DWade is a superior man to man defender and is far more tenacious.

[indeedproceed]

The other thing is Lebron is not a quitter, Wade is.

False. DWade is a superior man to man defender and is far more tenacious.

LeBron is a pretty good defender in his own right. I'm not sure I'd call Wade 'better' in any respect on the defensive side.

[Fafnir]

Both Wade and LeBron have been rather lazy at times on defense. Wade in particular was not getting back in transition against Boston on several occasions.

[wdleehi]

I have seen what Lebron can do.  He made Pierce look average (or worse) offensively in the playoffs.



Lebron is probably the best SF defender in the league right now when he wants to.  You can not say that about Wade at SG. 

[pearljammer10]

Paul and Wade in the back court would look good on paper but Im not so sure how it would translate on the court. Both players, like Lebron and Wade, need the ball in their hands to make an impact on the game. Paul needs the ball in his hands to make plays, score, penetrate the paint, Wade wouldnt work as well with Paul because Wade would be shooting more jumpers with Paul alongside him and Wade needs to go to the basket to be most effective.

[KCattheStripe]

I have seen what Lebron can do.  He made Pierce look average (or worse) offensively in the playoffs.



Lebron is probably the best SF defender in the league right now when he wants to.  You can not say that about Wade at SG. 

Only because A) There's a lack of talented defenders at the 3 and B) There's a multitude of them at the 2.

Dwayne's defense against the more modern 1 on 1 2's is much better than his running off 12 picks trying to find Ray. Much like Lebron's man defense is terrible when he's playing talent he doesn't respect.

[wdleehi]

I have seen what Lebron can do.  He made Pierce look average (or worse) offensively in the playoffs.



Lebron is probably the best SF defender in the league right now when he wants to.  You can not say that about Wade at SG. 

Only because A) There's a lack of talented defenders at the 3 and B) There's a multitude of them at the 2.

Dwayne's defense against the more modern 1 on 1 2's is much better than his running off 12 picks trying to find Ray. Much like Lebron's man defense is terrible when he's playing talent he doesn't respect.

Has Wade ever done what Lebron did to a player of Pierce's level in the playoffs?

[Bring Back Antoine]

Don't forget game 7 in '08...

[Fafnir]

Don't forget game 7 in '08...

Last year in the playoffs he limited Pierce hugely, and he did similar things in 07-08. Pierce shot 40% in that series, even with his monster game 7.

[Eja117]

....then they might not have lost to Cleveland, and they'd need less security and air freshner

[JBcat]

To be fair Miami hasn't implemented much of their offense at this point especially since Wade missed most of the preseason.   To compare to our big 3 when they first got together nobody missed any training camp time in Europe. 

   http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/09/1916947/miami-heat-taking-patient-approach.html

Here is a look at what some of Miami's offense might look like when it's all said and done per David Thorpe of ESPN.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/news/story?id=5766714

I still think they are soft inside and at the point guard position but I'm going withhold further judgement until they get their offensive sets down.