Miami Heat

The Miami Heat are a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Heat play in the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference. http://espn.go.com/nba/clubhouse?team=mia The team is owned by Micky Arison and plays at American Airlines Arena in Miami, FL. The team is coached by Erik Spoelstra while the team president is Basketball Hall of Fame member and former coach Pat Riley. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Heat

The Miami Heat came into the league in 1988 as an expansion team along with the Charlotte Hornets (who have since relocated to New Orleans). Since coming into the league, the Heat have enjoyed many successful seasons in making the playoffs 13 out of their 21 seasons and have been division champions seven times. In 2006, the Heat completed a storied season by defeating the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals and winning the NBA Championship. Of the four teams that entered the league as expansion teams in 1988 and 1989, the Miami Heat have been the most successful with the highest winning percentage of the four teams. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Heat

Since winning the NBA Championship in 2006, the Heat have had a hard time getting back to the top. They struggled through one of their most difficult seasons during the 2007-2008 season when they finished with the leagues worst record at 15-67. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami_Heat Since that season, the Heat have been in rebuilding mode and have been targeting the summer of 2010 to lure a big name free agent to team with Dwyane Wade and lead the Heat back to championship caliber.

The 2009-2010 season has been viewed from the start as somewhat of a 'bridge the gap' season in Miami. The team passed on making any big moves for the season in free agency of via trade in an effort to keep the salary cap space needed to be a big player in the summer of 2010. The plan, and hope, is that the team will be able to lure one of the big name free agents that will be available in the summer of 2010 - LeBron James, Chris Bosh, or Amare Stoudemire. The hope is that the team will be able to re-sign Dywane Wade and lure one of these other superstars to the team to set Miami up for multiple title runs.

Thus far in 2010, the plan remains on course. While the team explored adding Stoudemire at the February trade deadline, the Heat did not make any deals and still has the cap flexibility to be a big player in the summer free agent market. The team has remained in the playoff hunt but is not considered a serious title contender this season.