Miami Heat: Will Dwyane Wade Play More PG with Ray Allen on Miami Heat?

Ray Allen decided it was time to take his talents outside of Boston.

Now that he's on the Miami Heat's star-studded roster, the Heat are going to have to make adjustments, which could be good or bad.

Allen certainly brings depth to the Heat's bench, but at the same time he complicates their roster rotation since he plays the same position as Dwyane Wade.

Wade is the Heat's starting point guard, there's no doubt about that. That means the Heat will have to vastly alter their lineup to get Allen and Wade on the court at the same time.

For Allen to be the most effective, the Heat need him to be on the court at the same time as Wade, and that means their starting point guard, Mario Chalmers, might be sent to the bench in favor of Wade at the point.

If the Heat don't want Chalmers on the bench, the only other way they can get Wade and Allen on the court together is by going with a somewhat undersized lineup that looks like this—Mario Chalmers, Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

In theory that lineup sounds impressive. Having four All-Stars on the court at the same time is nothing to scoff at, but a lineup like that would leave the Heat vulnerable on the defensive side of the ball.

Allen isn't the youngest player in the NBA, and while he's still a tenacious player, he's certainly not the same player he was a few years ago on the defensive side of the ball.

The Heat's best option is to have Allen come off the bench, and instead of replacing Wade, have him replace Chalmers at the point. Then, with LeBron or Wade moving to the point, the Heat's most lethal offensive players can be on the court together.

The other option for the Heat is to have Allen replace Wade at the shooting guard position, and that means inserting him into their second unit with players like Norris Cole and Rashard Lewis.

If the Heat choose to utilize Allen in that manner, they won't be maximizing the talent they have on their roster, and that's something that could certainly hold them back during the 2012-13 season.

To repeat as NBA champions, the Heat need to have more consistent production coming off the bench. There's no doubt that Allen can bring that to the team, but he can only do that when he's on the court with the Heat's best players.

There shouldn't be any time when Allen is on the court without Wade or LeBron, because those players can maximize his talents and create the highest-percentage shots for him.

If Erik Spoelstra decides to use Allen in a different way the Heat will struggle, and the responsibility will fall squarely on his shoulders.