Dwyane Wade: 2013-14 Heat Probably 'The Deepest Team That I've Played On'

TORONTO—As the offseason progressed, the vision expanded.

Previously, Erik Spoelstra had resisted utilizing a deeper rotation, and with good reason. Last season, for instance, when he finally got to a tight nine—the same five starters, the same four subs—the Miami Heat ripped off a 27-game winning streak. Nor did this seem to set up as the season when he would alter that approach, not after the Heat sacrificed some of their depth, in the form of Mike Miller, to slice their luxury tax bill.

Still, Spoelstra started thinking about it, as a way to preserve his players, prior to a late-season maintenance program. Then, after seeing his entire roster in training camp, notably a rejuvenated Rashard Lewis and the returning Michael Beasley, he chose to commit to it.

So the Heat are now a different beast than the one that earned the past two championships.

"No knock on any other team that I’ve ever played on, besides the Olympic team, this would probably be the deepest team that I’ve played on," Dwyane Wade said Friday night.

That was prior to a 90-83 win against the Toronto Raptors, one in which 10 different players played at least 14 minutes, and an 11th (former starter Udonis Haslem) played nine, largely because of Chris Bosh's foul trouble. LeBron James played 36, just a tick above his average, and it would have been fewer if the Heat's hero ball hadn't squandered nearly all of a 20-point third-quarter lead. This actually qualified as one of James' more challenging nights of the young season, as he got "pretty banged up," jamming two fingers, tweaking an ankle and wrenching his back.

James shook off the ankle issue.

He taped the fingers together before missing four shots and ripping the tape off in the fourth quarter.

And the back? Well, we'll see how that feels after the flight back to Miami.

Still, James was smiling, so that was a positive sign.

"You got to have these type of games throughout the course of the season, the games that challenge you, and see how you can execute, and see who's going to show up late in the game and execute on both ends," James said. "These games are fun. I love the rest, but I hate sitting the fourth quarter."

That was a little stronger sentiment than what he said before tipoff, about Spoelstra's change in strategy, allowing more opportunity for others.

"It shows our depth," James said. "Obviously, sometimes I like it, sometimes I don’t like it, because I want to be on the floor. But at the end of the day, we’ve got guys who can play big minutes, and it’s helpful to all of us."

Wade, who has previously challenged further cutbacks to his court time, appears to have embraced Spoelstra's evolution.

"I'm very glad," said Wade, who made nine of 16 shots and is shooting 62.7 percent and averaging 23.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6.3 assists since resting for a week. "We are a very deep team. That’s the comfort of going out there, playing your minutes hard, doing what you have to do, knowing that when you come out, there’s no dropoff with any of the other guys." 

That's been evident in the lineup statistics. Sure, these are small sample sizes, but some of Miami's most effective combinations prominently feature reserves. Thirteen of Miami's 15 players are a "plus" on the season, and James ranks just sixth on the team in that category.

"We are thinking big picture, but at the same time, we’re trying to be competitive and win games right now, and develop this identity," Spoelstra said.

That's good for everyone.

It's good for the reserves, who feel more a part of the process.

Lewis, for instance, prepared hard for this season, after his experience as a maintenance "provider" late last season.

"Coach started resting the guys to get ready for a playoff run," Lewis said. "That’s when guys on the bench had to come out and play like 20, 30 minutes a night. You don’t want to come out and throw up all over the place."

Lewis expected that Spoelstra might summon more support earlier this season, because "you had a feeling that, going to three Finals, these guys were probably going to be tired." But he admitted that he didn't anticipate seeing quite this much action, 18.4 minutes per night.

But he's OK if the minutes shrink over time.

"That’s the whole goal of the team, to rest these guys and keep them healthy, so they can make that run," Lewis said.

That is among Spoelstra's goals.

He spoke of two concerns.

"One, can guys feel comfortable and confident in less minutes?" Spoelstra said. "But secondly, and a probably more important one, is can you play consistently to your identity with different lineups? We want to be aggressive, disruptive, the ball, we want it to move, and have all five guys feel like they’re involved on every possession. Now, to do that with different lineups, that’s the challenge. Ideally, you want to look out there and see your team identity regardless of who’s playing."

That wasn't always the case Friday, and Miami survived mostly due to Toronto's terrible free-throw shooting (19 of 32) and poor overall shot selection.

Still, it was a short-term win, the Heat's ninth victory in succession.

If the coach can stay the course, until the games that matter, it will be a long-term win, too.