Not long after the Miami Heat were hoping to return to contender status with their acquisition of Goran Dragic, news started leaking out that Chris Bosh was "under the weather" and had been admitted to a Miami-area hospital. Following the All-Star weekend where Bosh was selected as an Eastern Conference reserve, he reported to Heat practice and was told by the team to see a doctor.
Bosh underwent testing for pulmonary embolism on his lungs where he was feeling some discomfort, but initial tests came back inconclusive, according to Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald. The threat of potential blood clots in his lungs is not just threatening to his season or his career, but possibly his life. Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report is saying there is a blood clot in one of Bosh's lungs.
The Heat are handling this with extreme caution, and similar cases involving Anderson Varejao in 2013 and Mirza Teletovic this season caused them to miss the rest of their respective seasons.
While the Heat try to ensure that Bosh is taken care of from a medical standpoint, their play on the court will have to move forward as they fight for a playoff spot in the East. The arrival of Dragic to the team this weekend will help soften the blow of losing the Heat's best player this season, but it will take some time for him to get used to the system of Erik Spoelstra and the play of his teammates. With Dwyane Wade's health still in question following his second hamstring injury of the season, the rotation and roster are up in the air for Miami.
How they deal with the loss of Bosh on the court will be tricky. Bosh's spacing with his ability to knock down jumpers has been key to allowing Spoelstra's teams to space the floor and spread the defense thin. The emergence of Hassan Whiteside gives them a post presence and someone who can be a dump-off option inside on drives to the basket, but you can't count the midrange jumpers he's sporadically hitting this season as a staple of his offensive game. 2014 free agent signing Josh McRoberts would have been a big man capable of taking the role of Bosh as a floor-spacer, but he's also out for the season with a knee injury.
The Heat's roster and attack will have to be changed until and if Bosh can return to the court. Udonis Haslem has been good for the occassional baseline jumper from 18 feet but by trading away Shawne Williams and Danny Granger in the Dragic trade, the Heat are anemic at the 4 position when it comes to spacing the floor. Wade and Dragic are at their best when they are able to drive the lane and create shots at the basket or free throw opportunities for themselves. You can do that easily with one dump-off option like Whiteside, but having someone like Chris Andersen or Haslem next to him really clogs the lane.
With Luol Deng on the floor as well, you don't have a lot of outside shooting, despite Deng's improvement to 37.7 percent behind the arc. This is where Spoelstra and maybe even Pat Riley have to get creative. For Spoelstra, pushing the tempo and taking advantage of the athleticism of his backcourt and wings could be the difference in finding a better balance in creating winnable mismatches against the defense. The Heat are the slowest team in the NBA this season, so this could be a big shock to their attack.
For Riley, going after a free agent like Andray Blatche may be the best option. Blatche is currently playing in China and would be the best big man available who can stretch the floor (a little) and be a versatile enough big man to fit into Spoelstra's system. Bringing back Michael Beasley (also in China) could be a last resort, but after two failed stints in Miami, it's unlikely to yield any kind of results to return him to the Heat.
For now, relying on the emergence of Whiteside and the All-Star caliber play of Dragic and Wade together will be the Heat's best hope of still securing that final playoff spot. Most importantly though, the Heat have to hope that Bosh's health just from a quality of life standpoint is taken care of and then hope this isn't career-threatening after that is figured out.
