NBA Finals 2012: Miami Heat & Oklahoma City Thunder Preview, NBA Draft & Buzz

The 2012 NBA Finals offer everything a basketball fan could want. The matchup between the Miami Heat and the Oklahoma City Thunder has all the youth, athleticism, star power and storylines needed for a classic series.

You can get excited for this regardless of which team you usually root for.

In this is episode of Basketball by Association, NBA Featured Columnist Joel C. Cordes and NBA Assistant Editor Ethan Norof break down each position advantage between these youthful powers.

Basketball by Association is your final destination on Bleacher Report for all things NBA.

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By ending the Boston Celtics' "Big Four" era, the Miami Heat proved they could step up to adversity as a group. Chris Bosh got healthy in time to contribute with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

More importantly, the Heat got enough team-wide contributions while digging out of the 3-2 deficit that threatened to undo every last shred of confidence in their franchise blueprint.

Especially entertaining will be the matchup between LeBron James and Kevin Durant. How often do the league's two best players get to decide who's the top dog while on the game's biggest stage?

Oklahoma City's boisterous home crowd and ability to amass more firepower off their bench are huge potential advantages. However, the Heat may still have a higher gear than even the explosive Thunder can muster.

The guys also discuss whose stock is rising and falling for the 2012 NBA draft, as well as those veterans who may be on the move via trades and free agency.