Ira Winderman: Concluding ‘5 at 35′ with our Heat All-Time teams 3 1/2 decades in

With 2022-23 marking the Miami Heat’s 35th season, the Sun Sentinel today completes a series of “5 at 35″ reflections from staff writer Ira Winderman, who has covered the entirety of the franchise’s 3 1/2 decades.

After opening the series with a look at the five greatest games in the team’s history, five franchise-altering moments, the team’s biggest celebrity fans, five of the biggest personalities over the years, five notable Heat Lifers and rivalries that have defined the franchise, we continued with our position-by-position breakdowns of the top five shooting guards, point guards, small forwards, power forwards, centers and sixth men since the franchise’s 1988 inception.

Today, we conclude with our perspective on the Heat’s all-time teams.

Throughout this series, the goal was to provide context that there was Miami Heat before the 1995 arrival of Pat Riley, the 2010 pairing of the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and that this is a franchise that continues to evolve, as we plan to meet back in 2027 to reflect on the Heat at 40.

FIRST TEAM

Center: Alonzo Mourning. It could be argued that if Jerry West is the NBA logo, then Alonzo Mourning stands as the enduring face of the Heat, from scowling shot blocker to current front-office presence. Zo arrived to slay, but he came to stay.

Power forward: Chris Bosh. The tenure proved too fleeting, snuffed out by career-threatening blood clots. But no player in the Heat’s 35 years possessed such a combination of power and finesse, something Bam Adebayo now attempts to emulate.

Small forward: LeBron James. The only player in franchise history to be named NBA Most Valuable Player (in 2012, ‘13). A supernova who represented the ultimate high (arrival) and low (departure) in the franchise’s history.

Shooting guard: Dwyane Wade. The single most important player in Heat history, and arguably in South Florida sports history, over these past 35 years (with apologies to Dan Marino). He changed everything upon his arrival.

Point guard: Tim Hardaway. Proved to be almost irreplaceable at his position after his departure, with more than a decade passing before Goran Dragic and, now, Kyle Lowry, provided anything similar in terms of talent at point guard.

SECOND TEAM

Center: Shaquille O’Neal. The most talented center in the franchise’s 35 seasons, a force of nature whose infectious personality elevated the franchise from those playoff failures against the Knicks. Another example of brief Heat tenure but enduring legacy.

Power forward: Udonis Haslem. Sometimes longevity counts for plenty. Others have possessed more talent at the position, but none have taken such root in the franchise and in the community. Yes, that matters. And it’s not as if he isn’t also the Heat’s all-time rebounding leader.

Small forward: Jimmy Butler. In his three seasons with the team, Butler has led the Heat to the 2020 NBA Finals and within one shot of the 2022 NBA Finals. There were questions about whether there would be another superstar in the Heat’s orbit after the Big Three. Those questions have already been answered.

Shooting guard: Eddie Jones. During the leanest of years there was the professionalism of a player who served as leader on the court and in the locker room, a player who embodied much of the Heat Lifer motto that came later.

Point guard: Goran Dragic. The timing was off from the beginning, when Dragic stepped in just as Chris Bosh was forced to step aside. But through it all, through Dwyane Wade coming and going, Dragic kept it afloat. And he made it fun, as well.

THIRD TEAM

Center: Bam Adebayo. After years of empty calories in the middle, including the Hassan Whiteside experience, Adebayo arrived as an anchor of selflessness to help generate franchise renewal. Never had the Heat had a center as defensively versatile.

Power forward: P.J. Brown. The franchise has come to be defined by lunch-pail types at the position, from Grant Long to Udonis Haslem. Like those two, Brown always had his teammates’ backs.

Small forward: Glen Rice. Before 3-point shooting became the thing in the NBA, Rice was tantalizing with the long ball, his value ultimately allowing the Heat to utilize him in the trade for Alonzo Mourning.

Shooting guard: Steve Smith. To a degree, the No. 5 pick in the 1991 draft was a player ahead of his time, a playmaker who, at 6-8, was as much shooting guard and small forward as point guard. At times, when playing alongside Brian Shaw it was difficult to delineate the positional designation. The problem was the Heat did not truly recognize what they had until he was gone, squandered in the 1994 trade for Kevin Willis. He got lost in our positional “5 and 35″ ratings, but deserves All-Heat consideration here.

Point guard: Sherman Douglas. At a time charisma was desperately needed, Douglas arrived at the franchise’s outset to provide backcourt stability as one of the franchise’s first clutch scorers. He wasn’t ranked this high on our positional list at point guard, but his overall impact moves him in this type of ranking.

IN THE LANE

THE LONG ROAD: There have been few starker examples of the winding road of prospect to pro than what 2021 Heat summer-league prospect Micah Potter has traversed over both the past year and then this summer. After thriving with the Heat’s summer roster a year ago, the outside-shooting center, who went undrafted out of Wisconsin, then moved on to the Heat’s G League affiliate last October. From there, Potter got a 10-day contract from the Detroit Pistons last December amid a COVID outbreak, before returning to finish the season in the Heat’s sphere with the Sioux Falls Skyforce. From there, there was time with the New York Knicks’ summer roster in July, being signed back by the Pistons as a means to possibly funnel him to Detroit’s G League affiliate, and then, this past week, a two-way contract agreement with the Utah Jazz. Potter was signed when rookie Walker Kessler and third-year Udoka Azubuike stood as the only centers on Utah’s roster. But since his agreement, the Jazz also have added veteran big man Cody Zeller and Kelly Olynyk. For Potter, that could continue to leave stability as an abstract.

REVISED OUTLOOK: When the NBA schedule was released last month, the Heat’s opening week looked particularly daunting, with the Oct. 19 season opener against the visiting Chicago Bulls and Oct. 21 home game against the Boston Celtics. Now, the Bulls have acknowledged that Lonzo Ball will not be ready for their season opener, after requiring follow-up knee surgery. The same will be the case with Boston center Robert Williams, whose knee issues predate the Heat’s meeting with the Celtics in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, now ruled out for eight to 12 week. Plus, the game against the Heat will be Boston’s road opener under 34-year-old interim coach Joe Mazzulla in light of the season-long team suspension of Ime Udoka.

OPTION LOST?: While the personnel game tends to be one of feint and deception, Indiana Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said on a radio appearance this past week that center Myles Turner isn’t going anywhere. Turner, due $18 million this season, has been linked to several trade destinations, including the Heat. “Our job is to listen. We value him greatly and other teams around the league do, too,” Buchanan said. “He really fits with some of our young guards. He’s an outstanding fit on the court for us. He’s set up to have a great season and that puts him in a great spot next summer.” Unless, of course, the right offer comes along, with Indiana in the midst of a lottery-bound rebuild.

THEIR HASLEM: While the two briefly were Heat teammates, Andre Iguodala ultimately will go down as the Golden State Warriors’ version of Udonis Haslem. Warriors general manager Bob Myers acknowledged as much in a recent interview with The Athletic, regarding Iguodala commanding the respect of both veterans and neophytes. “He’s got a great respect level about him, he has got a great presence,” Myers said of Iguodala, who has committed to return for a 19th and final NBA season. “He is one of the few people in the world that can look [Stephen] Curry or Draymond [Green] or Klay [Thompson] in the eye and meet them at their level, but also grab a Jordan Poole or [Jonathan] Kuminga or [James] Wiseman and speak to them, encourage them. There’s no one else in the league who can do that for our team.”

NUMBER

$250,000. The only guaranteed money in the two-year free-agency contract former Heat forward KZ Okpala signed with the Sacramento Kings. The guarantee on the minimum-scale deal goes up to $500,000 if he is on the opening-night roster.