Miami Heat: 5 Things That Need to Happen If Heat Lose to Pacers

The Miami Heat's Game 3 loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals was embarrassing.

Any sports fan, especially Heat fans, will tell you that.

With the Heat down 2-1 in the series, the panic meter has risen to about a five, but there still is hope for the Heat as they have to win three of the next four games.

They have the talent. But, do they have chemistry?

Should the Heat lose to the Pacers, making an earlier exit than expected, there are five things that need to happen this offseason.

Whether you agree with it or not, changes have to be made in Miami—and some are not what you'd expect.

Here's a look at what those five things are.

5. Fire Erik Spoelstra

It's not that Erik Spoelstra is a bad coach, it's just he's not a good coach when there's three All-Stars on his team.

Spoelstra did a great job on the bench, all things considered, when it was just Dwayne Wade in Miami.

As soon as LeBron James and Chris Bosh came to town, Spoelstra really hasn't been able to coach.

Games run through James and Wade, while Spoelstra mainly is there to call timeout, and tell the players whether they're doing good or not so good, as we saw with his spat with Wade in Game 3.

Should the Heat lose, Spoelstra will be gone. There's no doubt about it.

There's no way Pat Riley will keep him on the bench another year, where the Heat could possibly under-perform again.

Instead, Riley will go out and look for a coach that knows how to handle superstars. Someone like Phil Jackson or Jerry Sloan would be a good choice.

But, I don't see either of them coming to Miami, so the Heat will be in a conundrum trying to figure out who coaches the team next year.

And, I don't think it will be Riley.

4. Trading Up in the Draft

With a loss, the Heat need to trade up in the draft to grab a big man—someone like North Carolina's Tyler Zeller.

We've seen where the Heat's weakness is, and that's in the middle.

They could package one of their first-round picks this year and next year, along with a player like Mario Chalmers, Mike Miller or Shane Battier, to a team like the Hornets and give New Orleans a proven player in the league.

Plus, New Orleans (which owns two lottery picks) will still have the ability to draft an NBA-ready prospect and then draft a guy that could take another year or two to develop.

This would be great for the Heat because they could draft someone like Zeller, or if the pick is higher than that, Ohio State's Jared Sullinger.

Regardless of how you look at it, the Heat need a big man that can play inside.

3. Let Juwan Howard, Ronny Turiaf and Eddy Curry Walk in Free Agency

In my opinion, players like Juwan Howard, Ronny Turiaf and Eddy Curry are just a waste of roster space.

These guys are getting a free ride on the backs of Bosh, Wade and James, without really having to do much work.

If the Heat want to get serious about having guys that can come off the bench and provide quality minutes in the middle, then these three guys can't come back.

I know that leaves Miami with a big hole in the middle for its bench, but I'll get to that later.

2. Sign Some Free Agents

There are some quality big men on the market this offseason.

Some won't come to Miami because they won't take the approach that Gary Payton and Karl Malone did when they went to the Lakers.

So, you can count out guys like Kevin Garnett and Marcus Camby coming to town.

But, there is one guy that I think would be a perfect fit in Miami and he will come at a relatively cheap price.

Jason Collins is an unrestricted free agent from the Hawks and he's exactly what the Heat need in the middle.

Now, he might not be a starter throughout the year, but think what the Hawks have done in the past against a team like Orlando with Dwight Howard.

Collins started some games and played solid defense on the best big man in the league.

That's what the Heat need. They need a defensive-minded center, who doesn't have to score with the basketball.

Defense is the key, and it starts with signing Collins.

1. Re-Work Contracts of Big Three

The Heat have seen what it's like to not reach their expectations the last two years.

If anything, James, Wade and Bosh are not happy with the way things are going.

While they did take a minor pay cut so the three of them could play together, if the Heat want to win a championship, they need to take an even deeper pay cut so the Heat can get better role players.

This year, the Heat's payroll is $73,315,665. Those three players make 65.11 percent of that.

I'm not saying these players aren't worth that money, because they are, but if you're trying to win a championship, having almost two-thirds of your team's payroll in three players is not the best way to go about it.

Now, the question is, can these players put aside their pride to make as much money as they can, and take a pay cut to help the Heat bring in more quality players?

Let's say the three players take a $3-4 million pay cut, giving the Heat $9-12 million more to spend on free agents.

That kind of money may not be able to land a superstar, but it can bring in someone like a Jason Collins or a Spencer Hawes or even Marcus Camby.

They already have enough money for the rest of their lives, so why not do something that will put you in better position to do—win a championship, like you set out to do two years ago.