NBA Finals 2014 : What's in store for Miami Heat & San Antonio Spurs for the next season?

James guarding Leonard

The San Antonio Spurs are at the top of the basketball world after 7 years. The Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 104 – 87 in Game 5 of the 2014 NBA Finals winning the NBA title, for the first time since 2007. Surprisingly, this series turned out to be anticlimactic compared to last year’s finals. The series appeared close for the first two games. Then the Spurs completely dominated Games 3, 4, and 5 and ultimately dismantled the Miami Heat on their way to the championship.

The Heat, who were in dire straits, being down 3 games to 1, started the game hot. They led the Spurs at a moment in the 1st quarter 22-6. From there on, it was all about the Spurs. LeBron James led the way for Miami with 15 points in the opening quarter and finished with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Other Heat players did not rise to the occasion. Dwyane Wade wasn’t aggressive enough. Even when he was, he couldn’t score. Chris Bosh started off well, but shot poorly in the second half. Ray Allen, inserted into the starting line-up by Eric Spoelstra for the first time in the post-season, was ice cold and finished with 5 points on 1 of 8 shooting. Their bench didn’t help either.

Kawhi Leonard continued his impressive run in these Finals. He led the Spurs with 22 points and 10 rebounds and was named the Finals’ MVP, youngest since Tim Duncan in 1999, and 4th youngest overall. The old star trio of the Spurs - Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili added their quota of points with 14, 16 and 19 respectively. Patty Mills was on fire in the 3rd quarter with five 3-pointers and took away every chance of any Miami Heat comeback. Overall, the San Antonio Spurs played the way they do all the time with crisp passing, sharp shooting, great team defense and dominant rebounding.

LeBron James is the only Heat player who really showed up for every game in these Finals. He had put up his usual numbers but got little help from his teammates. One could only wonder about the series result had he stayed healthy during Game 1. But it doesn’t really matter now. Chris Bosh played well in Games 1 and 2 but didn’t get enough touches for the next 3 games. The rest of the cast were average at best.

Bosh, James and Wade

With the end of the season, speculation looms over the future of the Miami Heat. The trio of James, Wade and Bosh have the option to terminate their contracts and test the free-agent waters. James can stick around with the Heat or sign with another team in pursuit of a few more titles. During the regular season, there were rumors that the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron’s former team, would be trying to bring James back to the Quicken Loans Arena. As awkward or awesome as that sounds, it may not help James in winning any title with the current setup of the roster that the Cavaliers boast of. Nobody outside of Kyrie Irving or Dion Waiters (a long shot) can help James. However, the Cavaliers have the No. 1 pick in the upcoming 2014 NBA Draft which is termed as one of the best draft classes ever. They could draft Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker, the three young guns who are considered to possess huge potential. So there is a chance that James will consider Cleveland as an option. His other potential suitors were the Los Angeles Lakers and the Chicago Bulls. But the odds of James ending up in a Lakers’ or Bulls’ are very low.

Carmelo Anthony

If the recent rumor mill is to be believed, Carmelo Anthony, who is desperately trying to exit the New York Knicks could end up joining the Miami Heat and form a super team alongside James, Wade and Bosh. Anthony is a good friend of the Heat trio since the 2003 NBA Draft when these 4 stars were taken in the top 5 picks. But that notion is too far-fetched as Miami could be severely infected with luxury tax issues if that were to happen. At least one of the Heat’s Big Three (probably Chris Bosh) has to opt out and sign with less money or has to opt out and sign elsewhere. If Pat Riley, Miami Heat’s president of basketball operations (and the architect behind bringing James and Bosh to South Beach in 2010), pulls that off, that would become one of the greatest moves in NBA free-agent history. That would also hinder the concentration of talent in the league. Not to mention, Miami would generate even more hatred from sports fans outside South Beach. But something tells me that Anthony would not end up in a Miami Heat uniform.

Duncan, Leonard, Parker and Ginobili

Coming to the future of the San Antonio Spurs, they have a great building block in Kawhi Leonard who blossomed into a star in these Finals. Duncan and Ginobili are at the fag end of their careers, and would probably lace up their shoes in a year or two. With Leonard at bay, the Spurs would try to continue to stay in contention by putting suitable pieces around him and solve the championship puzzle.

Bryant and Duncan

Moreover there is one more aspect to this NBA title victory for the San Antonio Spurs. With Tim Duncan’s 5th NBA title victory, the fiery ‘Kobe Vs. Duncan’ debate has new fuel into it. Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan have been the two greatest basketball players since Michael Jordan retired from the NBA. Now with these two legends owning 5 rings each, the debate of “Who’s better?” just got stronger than ever. The NBA season has come to an end at the moment. So let’s stop that debate. For now.