Take it from somebody who watched Howard closely all of last year, he is only good for a couple minutes a game. His main contribution to a team is more of a leadership role and a voice in the huddle. I think this is more of a last-ditch effort at a ring by him than anything.
I voted an early 'no.' I've already stated my reasons in other threads, but to recap:
- I don't think Bosh will be as good as advertised. I don't think he'll be able to win that one on one matchup with KG or Boozer or Bynum (and a handful of others) once they're in a best of 7. If they're going to win, Bosh has to prove he's more than a good stat line on a bad team like he has been his whole career thus far.
- I don't see the Heat picking up enough quality depth. Their big 3 are eating up too much salary. Look at every team that has won the title for the last decade. You are looking at teams with talent that goes 9-10 men deep. Riles will have to get 5 more guys to sign on at or near minimum salaries who are capable of playing more than 20 minutes a game (i.e. not your JaJuan Howards of the world). Getting these 3 was impressive, although I'm not so sure this hasn't been planned for years, rather than Riles salesmanship. I can't see them getting 5 quality guys who will take 15-20% of their current salary just to win.
However, if Bosh does play the best ball of his career so far, and Riles does find 5-6 quality players for pennies on the dollar, then the Heat can make this work.