Aggregating the Hottest Heat Predictions Across the Web

With the season approaching next week and South Florida ready to undergo a sports culture transformation from being perennial bottom-feeders to the epicenter of a league, now is as good a time as any to process some of the predictions that our defending champs have been tabbed with. 

To review, the Heat capped off a long-awaited championship run with an equally successful offseason, nabbing sharpshooter Ray Allen from the rival Celtics and Rashard Lewis from a succession of Quiznos Subs commercials (I say that joke with love, by the way).

But if we really want to start the conversation about the Heat and how they will fare this season, it's important that we distinguish that the aforementioned developments are as much a byproduct of how we view this team as the predictions you are about to read. 

Because the real crux of Miami's success has been all about establishing a position-less lineup that allows LeBron to operate in the post with impunity, utilizes Chris Bosh's talents as a jump shooter, and spaces the floor with enough shooters that teams are forced to choose between letting LeBron and Wade kill them in the paint or leave one of the team's highly efficient shooters open from beyond the arc. 

And, in the irony of all ironies, we are all now expecting to see the career of the best player of this generation flourish as a result of his coach thinking enough outside the box....to keep him in it. 

So without further ado, here are the hottest predictions surrounding the defending champs.

GMS Expect Heat to Repeat

According to a survey annually conducted by NBA.com, the Miami Heat were picked by seventy percent of GMs in the league to repeat as champs, with the Lakers standing as a distant second at 23 percent.

Immediately, you have to factor two things as well. One is that the Lakers are the buzz team of the moment in the NBA because nobody knows how good they are going to be and the one dynamic proven time and again to skew polls is the unknown. Second, you have to figure that the GMs of title contending teams—like those beloved Celtics that seem to love the Heat so much—and the Cleveland Cavs probably didn't vote for us for obvious reasons.

So, in a nutshell, the Heat are what you could call the overwhelming favorites.  

By the way, one important thing to keep in mind is that of the top three title contending teams, two of the three play out West. 

And while a case could be made that the Celtics will be a tougher team for Miami to face than, say, the Thunder because of the length of playoff games they took Miami to in the playoffs last year, the core of the Celtics is on its way down (with the exception of Rondo, of course), while the Thunder will only get better. 

After all, you don't completely revamp your bench the way Boston did this summer if Father Time didn't just bang on the door in the same subtle fashion that Jack Nicholson did in the Shinning. 

LeBron Expected to Get Fourth Career MVP

In the same survey conducted by NBA.com, 67 percent of GMs expect LeBron James to defend his regular season MVP title. 

Here are some reasons why:

No. 1: His performance in the playoffs, which rivals Jordan if you compare their playoff numbers.

No. 2: His performance in the Olympics, where he was the established leader on a team comprised of the best basketball players in the world.

No. 3: Erik Spoelstra seemingly did the impossible last season by figuring out a way to best utilize all of LeBron James' skills on the court. The result? The league's first ever point-power forward. 

No. 4: LeBron will no longer have to jockey with Wade for the spotlight, because Wade rightfully took a step back and publicly relinquished a team that once belonged to him. (Something he doesn't get nearly enough credit for.) And that happened in the late stages of last season when LeBron's third MVP was already all but decided. Think how effective he'll be with a full season as the man.

No. 5: This one goes without saying, but can you imagine how validated LeBron James must feel after all that he accomplished in the past calendar year? His reward: going into his first season as a pro where he can simply live out the dream of playing the game he loves without any value-based distractions and agendas weighing him down.

The result? A certifiable nightmare for the rest of the league. 

ESPN Tabs Miami to Finish 1st in Division, Finish 61-21

According to ESPN, the Heat are expected to finish first in the Southeast and complete the season with a record at or close to 61-21. 

First thing's first. The Heat are in a division with two teams that lost their best player in the offseason (Atlanta and Orlando) while getting little by way of talent in return and two teams that are still rebuilding (Charlotte and Washington). Not to mention that John Wall is expected to be sidelined for a while. So, to say that the Heat will finish first in their division and be guaranteed home court advantage in the first round isn't exactly a reach. 

The 61-21 record, however, is intriguing. The jury is out on whether or not complacency will be an issue for the defending champs, as it infamously was in the hangover year of the franchise's last championship in 2006. 

But the Heat of all teams should appreciate how important that finishing with the league's best record is, given two very important disparities:

No. 1: Last season, their record at home was 28-5 compared to 18-15 on the road. 

No. 2: When you get beyond the Heat and Celtics, the Eastern Conference is almost a joke compared to the Western Conference. Which means it would be almost inexplicable for the Miami Heat not to have home court advantage in the NBA Finals, should they make it that far, against either the Lakers or Thunder (the two preeminent contenders out West). In fact, given how good both teams are, home court advantage could prove to be the difference between a Heat team like the one we saw celebrating their championship at LIV and the one we saw mourning its loss back in 2011. 

Conclusion

At the end of the day, every diehard sports fan enters a season the same way. 

We set up a checklist of the things we think we know and the things we know until we hit that one point that almost jumps off the page, slaps us in the face, and ever so sardonically says, "Hey there...remember me?"

For instance, we think we know how good the Lakers are going to be. What we do know is that Kobe will do whatever he can to get that sixth ring, with the exception of letting any of his teammates ultimately decide the team's fate or his legacy. 

This season, that point is this. In the last six months, LeBron James not only proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is the best player in the league, but that he's also already one of the top five best basketball players of all time.

And with an even better supporting cast than the one he had last year,

...and a coach that finally learned how to maximize his talents on the court

...and a superstar sidekick that finally decided to step aside for good

...and the refreshing sound of silence from critics that have typically welcomed him into an NBA season, we have every reason to believe that the King is only now beginning to enter his reign. And thank goodness, for the next two years at least, he's doing it in a Heat uniform. 

Oh, just one side-note—if Kobe was ever serious about retiring in two season, you'd better believe that LeBron's ascension would be the major reason why.