By IRA WINDERMAN
By IRA WINDERMAN
Tribune News Service
ORLANDO, Fla. The exhale came Friday on the practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena.
No, not just because five grueling sessions of summer camp were over and attention could be turned to Saturday’s start of summer-league play, but because even at this early stage of NBA free agency, the Miami Heat again are whole.
Amid a league-wide makeover, with dramatic moves such as DeAndre Jordan’s Friday defection from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Dallas Mavericks, stability has delivered comfort for the Heat.
“I mean obviously it’s huge,” guard Tyler Johnson said. “If you can keep some chemistry, obviously that’s going to carry over into next season.”
Chemistry and continuity were in short supply last season for the Heat, as injury and illness ravaged the roster.
There was a thought that free agency could do the same.
Instead, Luol Deng opted into the final year on his Heat contract, Goran Dragic agreed to terms to return on the first day of free agency, and Dwyane Wade did the same on the second day.
By Friday, the Heat’s supporting players again were talking about a starting lineup of Hassan Whiteside, Chris Bosh, Deng, Wade and Dragic, and of a far brighter outlook than last season’s lottery finish that led to the drafting of Justise Winslow.
“It’s just excitement, just coming back and having a family,” Whiteside said. “I’m very excited.”
How excited?
“Definitely top three teams,” he projected of the Heat’s place in the Eastern Conference next season, after a ninth-place this past season. “I think we’re going to be a really great team.”
While Heat President Pat Riley and his staff looked to further bolster the roster, including a Riley dinner meeting late Thursday with Portland Trail Blazers free-agent forward LaMarcus Aldridge, what already is in place has considerably brightened the outlook.
“Chris Bosh is such a great shooter,” Whiteside said. “And Goran is going to push the tempo. And D-Wade’s going to do what D-Wade does. And Lu is going to be tough.”
Because contracts cannot be signed until July 9, at the end of the NBA’s offseason personnel moratorium, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was banned Friday from discussing the team’s recent personnel strides.
But the returning players on the roster preparing for summer league took care of that.
Guard Zoran Dragic said his brother was committed to the Heat’s outlook since the two arrived at the Feb. 19 trading deadline from the Phoenix Suns, with the brothers particularly heartened by Wade’s return.
“With this kind of organization, we’re like a family,” Zoran Dragic said. “I’m very happy that they found agreements, especially with D-Wade. He’s really the heart of this team.”
“It feels really good knowing they’re back,” forward James Ennis. “We know who the leaders of this team are.”
While Spoelstra eventually will lecture his players about getting ahead of themselves, Friday was not the time. Instead, there was collective relief.
“If you think about the emergence of Hassan, what C.B. and D-Wade bring, and then Lu, who is like a lockdown defender, can space the floor, there’s no reason why we couldn’t be in the top one, two, three in the East, with that lineup, and everybody being healthy,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of freak accidents last year. With everybody healthy, there’s no reason why we couldn’t be the top in the East.”