Miami Heat: 1 Key Improvement Each Member of Heat Must Make Before Next Season

Title contenders are emerging out west. The Miami Heat may have to be even better than they were in 2011.

Los Angeles now has a Big Four in purple and gold. Oklahoma City’s trio has Olympic experience under their belts after winning gold overseas. The Heat aren’t shaking in their boots, but if the rich want to get richer, their personnel will need to expand their games even further.

Nitpicking a championship team can be a daunting task, but Miami will be making a slight transition to their style of play. Miami will be implementing smaller lineups and using LeBron James at every position on the floor.

Those changes bring about some questions about the team’s current talent and how certain skill sets will coexist on the hardwood.

Some of the Heat players have their work cut out for them in training camp. Here’s what should be at the forefront of each player’s to-do list this offseason.

LeBron James: Work from the Post Regularly

After James' brilliant year, nitpicking his game right now is like critiquing the Rolling Stones in the ‘60s. The King has it all together.

Except that post game of his. While it was effective in the NBA Finals, it still is a work in progress.

His post move set relies on a majority of fadeaway jumpers, which are low-percentage looks for any player. If he can implement a few moves that end in him going toward the basket, that would make him even more unstoppable than the current version.

Also, the post game will be relied on even more this season, so LeBron adjusting this fledgling inside game to his teammates' skills is paramount. Especially with the entire league breaking down his film to find any loopholes.

In fact, he will have to go up against bigger and stronger post defenders than what he faced against Oklahoma City and Boston last postseason; Paul Pierce, Kevin Durant and James Harden are only a small sample size of upcoming opponents.

Chris Bosh: The Center Position

Miami has decided to run with that approach and now will feature Bosh at the 5-spot. His presence takes his defender out of the middle with his deep shooting range, which will open the floodgates for Wade and LeBron to penetrate.

Bosh, though, hasn’t had extensive minutes at the center position just yet. The total minutes Bosh played center does not come close to the Heat’s most prominent lineup in 2011-12.

Squaring up with the Roy Hibberts and Andrew Bynums in the East won’t be much easier than last season. Miami’s most skilled big man is up to the challenge, though. He gives the Heat their best chance to win at center from a two-way standpoint.

When he has the ball in his hands, he will challenge his bigger defender’s on-ball defense with his quickness to the paint.

When the team gets out in transition, as they like to do, Bosh is an ideal trailing big man because he can shoot it from deep and finish on the move.

At center, Bosh has become the Spider-Man of this group: more power, more responsibility.

Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem: Fix That Jump Shot

These two Heat players are searching for a common skill, but they arrived at this upcoming season in different ways.

Wade is one of the best finishers in the game, but he has never been a shoot-first guard. A consistent jump shot would do wonders for his game entering the second half of his career, but his range comes and goes like the flu.

The low point in Wade’s outside game came in last year’s playoffs, where the Heat star was afraid to put up a jump shot many times because of how broken his shot had become.

Haslem, on the other hand, has depended on a 10- to 15-foot jump shot for his entire career

The tires fell off the track last season, when he had some of his worst numbers between those distances in his career. Without a jumper in his offensive arsenal, Haslem was reduced to a mere defensive cog in the Heat’s system.

Both players will attempt to bring their range back into form this offseason. If both of them can get it together, look out NBA.

Mike Miller and James Jones: Mask Their Defensive Liabilities

Both Miller and Jones have rested their laurels on their three-point ability.

Now with healthier options on the roster available, such as Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and Shane Battier, these two Miami mainstays will have to work on the defensive end for playing time.

That’s not to say either Jones or Miller needs to turn into Tony Allen overnight. If they can learn how to take proper angles to keep their defenders in front of them, especially Eastern wings Paul Pierce, Luol Deng and Danny Granger, they could become palatable options in the rotation.

At this juncture, however, neither Miller nor Jones will be seeing the floor because of a combination of injury history and defensive ineptitude.

Allen and Battier, in particular, have too many two-way skills to not play the majority of minutes.

Mario Chalmers: Defending Athletic Guards

Russell Westbrook and Rajon Rondo feasted on the Heat's defense last postseason, and not for a lack of trying.

Dwyane Wade was forced to guard these two athletes because Mario Chalmers merely could not stay with them. Granted they are some of the game’s best penetrators, but being able to stay in front of them and disrupt their attack Is essential for the Heat’s repeat bid.

With Chalmers honing in on defense, Wade and LeBron James will be able to spend less time spending energy on defense and focus on playmaking.

Miami would be in much better straits offensively if Chalmers could pick up the defensive bulk on these athletic point guards. Taking a page out of Ray Allen’s playbook this offseason, he should learn how to take proper angles against sprier opponents. It could be a huge key.

Joel Anthony: Finishing in Transition

Anthony seems to be one of the casualties of the Heat moving to a small-ball style. He certainly fits the mold on defense, creating havoc for opposing centers even when he’s only 6’9”.

The issue comes in on offense, where Anthony may not even qualify as "serviceable." He has no offensive game to rely on, and the majority of his baskets come from the exploits of the Heat’s otherworldly penetrators.

Another capable trailing center would answer a lot of questions about the dearth of offensive bigs on the Heat bench. The Heat will be running as much, if not more than last year.

Developing a couple post moves may be too much to ask of Anthony, but an ability to catch and finish in transition is doable.

Shane Battier: Guarding Frontcourt Threats

Starting in the 2012 playoffs, in particular, Battier began to front bigger, more versatile offensive players in the post.

The strategy paid dividends, as both Carmelo Anthony and David West were flabbergasted by the strategy in multiple stretches through the postseason.

Battier will be asked to expand upon these skills as the Heat go "positionless" in their looks. He will play defense on opposing fours that pose a threat to Miami with their face-up game.

Standing at only 6’8”, practice is essential for Battier to carry on this height disadvantage and keep NBA coaches from finding ways to exploit him.

Ray Allen: Adjust to Playing with Miami Penetrators

Mark my words: There will be growing pains with Ray Allen in a Miami uniform. The Heat will utilize Allen differently than he has been accustomed to throughout his career. 

The Heat offense will likely not have him running around a ton of screens for jumpers, much like he's done for the bulk of his career.

Even in Boston he was relegated to a role in which he was constantly moving for open shots. Not in Miami, though. Sit back, relax and enjoy your new Big Three, Mr. Allen.

With the Miami offensive going through how Wade and James attack the rim and open up the floor, it would be a waste of energy for the top three-point shooter of all time.

Therefore, Allen will hang around the three-point arc for open threes, including a lot of corner opportunities that are generated through the offense.

Not too shabby.

Rashard Lewis: Shoot, Shoot and Shoot Some More

What the Miami brass saw in Rashard Lewis this offseason was an extension for the positionless lineup. His ability to stretch the floor, taking big men outside of the paint because of his range, should open up lanes for Miami’s Wade and James to do what they do best.

This perfect plan, however, is contingent on Lewis being a consistent threat from outside. He hasn’t been the same player that was a security blanket for Dwight Howard to pass to on the way to an 2009 NBA Finals berth.

There are signs of hope, though.

Even when Lewis was shooting some of his worst percentages last season, he managed to shoot 48 percent between 16 feet and the three-point line. In 2010-11, a heftier sample size, he went 45 percent between 10 feet and the arc and 39 percent on jumpers altogether.

All Lewis needs to do is put it all together. That makes one dangerous weapon inside and out for the Miami offense.

Norris Cole: Master the Miami Offensive Game Plan

Cole finally got to participate in a full NBA offseason, including a trip to Las Vegas for summer league play.

Why was this trip to Sin City so important? Not for the blackjack tables.

Cole was able to exhaust the Heat playbook and captain the team’s offense. That can be a tough task during the season when LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are in control of the basketball and barking out orders.

With that experience under his belt, Cole should be able to progress in his second year as an NBA point guard; he won’t just be an open shooter, but a viable piece to offensive sets.

It’s an exciting time to be Norris Cole in Miami. His ceiling could not be any higher.

Dexter Pittman: No Elbows, Just Rebound

In his two years in the NBA, Pittman is known for throwing elbows. After that, there's not much to tell.

As far as this writer is concerned, a 7’1” big man who can only average less than five rebounds a game in summer league has no place on an NBA bench. Pittman's 4.3 rebound average was behind the likes of Adam Morrison and Klay Thompson, for heaven's sake.

With so much talent surrounding him on the outside, Pittman should dedicate his in-season workouts to crashing the boards to become a serviceable big man.

If not, there’s no place for an immobile seven-footer on this roster going forward.

Mike Shiekman is an NBA Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He also expresses his thoughts in 140 characters or less. Follow him @TheRealShiek on Twitter.