Heat Rumors: Why Miami Should Stand Pat with Big 3 at Trade Deadline

If the machine isn't broken, you don't tweak it.

This certainly applies to the current status of the Miami Heat—namely the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.

This applies to the Big Three because they made it to the NBA Finals in their first year together, losing in six games to the Dallas Mavericks. During this playoff run, and frankly the entire season, the Heat squad learned a great deal. It took time for James and Wade to learn how to share the backcourt and also implement the versatile Bosh in the low post.

This year, they each seem to be finding their niches. James has cut back on hoisting three pointers and is currently piecing together a historic season. He's averaging 27.7 points per game on a career-best 55 percent shooting. He’s also averaging 8.4 rebounds per game and 6.6 assists per outing.

Wade and Bosh are also both playing effectively, both shooting near 50 percent and contributing in a handful of ways.

While the playoffs are not yet upon us, there's every reason to think the Big Three are meshing better this year than they did last year, which spells trouble for their NBA foes.

What's more, the additions of gritty defender Shane Battier and rookie playmaker Norris Cole make the Heat all the more potent. These are the types of additions who can prove pivotal come playoff time, when “X-factor” contributors are undoubtedly needed.

For reasons such as these, there's no need for the Heat to do anything drastic with the trade deadline fast approaching on Thursday. 

There have been some recent rumblings indicating that Dwight Howard is interested in playing for the Heat, but there’s no need to get greedy and pursue this now.

The Magic would surely want one of the Big Three—maybe even the beloved Wade—and while adding Howard to the middle is an enticing idea, it’s simply not necessary.

Furthermore, pursuing such a bold move would indicate the Heat’s lack of confidence in their current squad, a squad that’s worked to develop chemistry and is currently positioned with the league’s third best record, closely behind Chicago and Oklahoma City.

This deal would also be unhealthy because of the friendships between James, Wade and Bosh. They came to Miami to do one thing: win. And win “not one, not two, not three…”

The Big Three want to pursue this together. Breaking them up now could actually cause a rift between players and management. How do you think LeBron would feel if they bid farewell to his teammate and close friend D-Wade?

Perhaps the Heat will make a minor move. Adding an additional center to fortify their frontcourt is not a bad idea, but such a move would obviously not come at the expense of losing one of the Big Three.

If the Big Three can’t win a title together this year or the following year, then it’s likely time to seek to cast off one of them and try a new experiment.

But now is not the time for that. They’re continuing to make strides and are a frontrunner to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June. A team like that doesn’t need major tweaking.

And quite frankly, any major tweaking could just end up causing more harm than good.