Heat could compete for title with just LeBron, Bosh

When Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said he thinks the Heat "are better without Wade," he was clearly joking. When Wade returns from his self-diagnosed two week hamstring injury, the Heat will have a trio more athletic and explosive than the league has ever seen.

But let's just say the unthinkable occurred and Wade's injury lingered, and then he fell down in his house doing pilates (sorry Boozer) and broke his arm and missed significant time. The Heat would still compete for a title, and that's how scary this team looks.

You can never take too much out of a preseason game, so forget that Miami easily defeated a bad Detroit team and a good Oklahoma City team without Wade.

Instead, compare what the Heat's lineup would look like minus Wade, and to the 2007 Cleveland Cavaliers' lineup that reached the NBA Finals.

CAVS LINEUP:
C - Zydrunas Ilgauskas
PF - Drew Gooden
SF - LeBron James
SG - Larry Hughes
PG - Eric Snow
Key reserves: Sasha Pavlovic, Anderson Varejao, Donyell Marshall

HEAT LINEUP (minus Wade)
C - Joel Anthony
PF - Chris Bosh
SF - LeBron James
SG - Mike Miller
PG - Mario Chalmers
Key reserves: Udonis Haslem, Zydrunas Ilgaukas, Carlos Arroyo

'07 Cavs vs. '11 Heat w/o Wade = Heat in 6

As good as LeBron was in 2007, he's four years older and much more talented in 2011. Not to mention James never had a teammate as good as Bosh during his years in Cleveland, yet he still led the Cavs to a 66-win season.

How good does Bosh look in a Heat uniform? Aside from Lamar Odom's one season in Miami, the Pat Riley era power forwards have been solid role players like PJ Brown and Haslem. Miami's never had a power forward (including Odom) with Bosh's shooting touch at the basket. Even Alonzo Mourning didn't have the natural scoring ability of Bosh. He's the perfect complement for LeBron.

Heat fans will hate this assertion, but the Heat with LeBron and Bosh would have a better shot at a title than a Heat team with just Wade and Bosh. Wade will go down as one of the all-time greats, but LeBron is a freak of physical nature unlike any player who came before him. And he's only getting better.

With all the LeBron backlash around the league (much of it justified) it's easy to forget that James is a back-to-back MVP who's only 25 years old

Yes, Boston, the Lakers and the Magic would have a shot to defeat this pretend Wade-less Heat team, but it wouldn't be a guaranteed victory for any of those teams.

Now add Wade back in the mix. With the endless preseason speculation coming to an end, and the guys actually stepping on the court, you realize how talented of a team resides a few miles from South Beach. Even with the two-time defending Lakers lurking, if this trio of LeBron, Wade and Bosh doesn't win the title this year, consider Erik Spolestra's job on the line and mission unaccomplished.