Would the Miami Heat Dare Break Up Its 'Championship' Core This Summer?

Although the Miami Heat have yet to officially win a championship, history suggests that it will only be a matter of time, given that none of the previous 30 teams facing a 3-1 series deficit in the NBA Finals ever came back to win.

That being the case, many would assume, if not agree, that the team's blueprint for the offseason should look fairly conservative, as they exclusively refer to the free-agent market to address its hole at the center position as well as the limited depth on its bench.

But would that be advisable?

Granted, Miami is making its second Finals appearance in as many years, and one can only imagine the kind of trajectory LeBron James' career will take moving forward with the weight of the world no longer on his shoulders, but the Heat will have little in the form of resources to fill its gaping flaws. 

In fact, one would presume that Miami's ability to net a "competent" free-agent center will prove to be as fruitless as it was last summer, with the Samuel Dalembert's of the world tending to prefer "greener" pastures more so than the golden one players nearing the end of their career do. 

Not to suggest that the addition of Shane Battier hasn't proven to be an absolute boon for the Heat in these Finals thus far, but, as Miami learned after its championship in 2006, keeping a winner with older players expected to fill major roles can become a recipe for disaster.

Meanwhile, it has to also be taken into account that, despite whatever failings Oklahoma City experienced during these NBA Finals, they will come back next year more seasoned and that much tougher to beat.

And that's assuming Miami can get passed an Eastern Conference crop that won't be nearly as devastated by injury as it was this year.

So, to say that the Miami Heat brain-trust can just sit back and rely on the type of "cosmetic" changes that the discount bin of the free-agent market is essentially known for doesn't quite exactly inspire confidence.

To that end, it wouldn't hurt to take a once-over of the individual playoff statistics of two of the team's three max investments, as it's probably safe to assume Pat Riley won't be sending LeBron James anywhere that doesn't say Tiffany and Co. at the top. 

Dwyane Wade's playoff stats for the last three years are:

G

MPG

FG%

3P%

FT%

RPG

APG

SPG

BPG

TO

PF

PPG

With the addition of LeBron and Bosh, it's understandable that there would be a significant drop in his PPG from 2009 to 2010. Outside of that, the only troublesome decline evident is shown in his three-point FG shooting from 40 percent in 2009 to 27 percent last year and 29 percent now. Therefore, although Wade has, at times, looked underwhelming during these NBA playoffs, he is still playing at a high level. Not to mention, the thought of trading Wade after the role he played in getting James and Bosh to Miami should probably be considered blasphemous. Also, it would be hard to conceive Miami retaining LeBron James when he becomes a free agent in 2014 after such an offense. 

Chris Bosh's playoff stats for the last two years are:

G

MPG

FG%

3P%

FT%

RPG

APG

SPG

BPG

TO

PF

PPG

Because of the shortage of minutes he's playing in these playoffs as compared to last year, he should be given the benefit of the doubt regarding his decline in PPG. Meanwhile, from a big-picture standpoint, Bosh rarely gets enough credit for being the kind of player that separates a Miami Heat team struggling to get past an over-the-hill Boston Celtics from the one that's currently poised to win its fourth straight game against a young and athletic Oklahoma City Thunder squad. Nevertheless, take a look at 2011-2012 regular season stats of Rockets forward Luis Scola, who is making almost half the amount that Bosh is. 

		G		MPG	FG%	3p%	FT%			RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TO	PF	PPG
		66		31.3	0.491	0.000	0.773			6.5	2.1	0.5	0.4	2.3	3.2	15.5

In almost an identical amount of minutes to what Bosh has averaged during these playoffs, Scola has comparable numbers in most categories with the exception of three-point percentage, and actually averages more points and assists while boasting a higher FG%.

Ultimately, despite Miami's expected championship season and its overall success since the big three era began, a legitimate case can be made for why trading Bosh would be in their better interest. For example, sending him to the Lakers in a three-team deal that would send Pau Gasol to Houston and a package that would include Scola to Miami.

The main argument to be made as to why Miami shouldn't pursue such a course is that changes this significant may interfere with team chemistry.

However, the million-dollar question would then become:

Would the spread of talent Miami could theoretically get from trading Bosh be enough to offset any potential chemistry problems that develop as a result?

And doesn't the up-and-coming status of a Thunder team that looks to only lack experience before actualizing their full potential warrant that such a question be asked.

In the category of both questions, I'll take "Yes" for 200, Alex.