MIAMI — The palm trees are still standing in front of American Airlines Arena. The bayside arena remains beneath a consistent sun. LeBron James’ departure did not force Miami Heat basketball to slide into the ocean.
At least, not yet. The James-less Heat open against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night in an altered Eastern Conference. An offseason of movement prompted by James’ decision to leave Miami and return to the cradle in Cleveland fractured accepted views of conference’s power structure. Up is down, cats and dogs are living together, Lance Stephenson is viewed as an influence on who will come out of the East and make the Finals.
Cleveland yanked forward Kevin Love away from the Minnesota Timberwolves to team with James and point guard Kyrie Irving. After a daliance with Chicago, among others, Carmelo Anthony and his perfect-form jumper remained in New York.
Derrick Rose is again healthy, for now, for the Bulls. Paul Pierce came to the Wizards. Stephenson left Indiana and went to Charlotte, a surprise playoff team from last season.
Indiana’s Paul George broke his leg in the offseason. The Pacers, Miami’s opponent in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, will have four new players in their opening day lineup because of injuries.
The movement of monoliths has the Wizards hopeful.
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“Why not us?” Pierce said.
It’s a longshot, according to the statistics website fivethirtyeight.com. They project the Wizards to finish fifth in the conference and give Washington a 1.3 percent probability to win the NBA title.
As much as James leaving Miami altered things for Cleveland — the Cavs will have the highest average cost for a family of four to attend a game, $1,504, according to nerdwallet.com — he changes the Heat.
Dwyane Wade’s nickname “Flash” has taken an alternate meaning. Wade played 49, 69 and 54 regular-season games the last three seasons, respectively. At times, he appears the Wade of old. Others, he appears simply old. Flash, indeed.
Which means the Heat are now ostensibly Chris Bosh’s team.
The 6-foot-11 left-hander was provided a max contract in the offseason to remain in Miami. The five-year deal is worth $118 million. Bosh chose to take that money instead of the max deal offered by the Houston Rockets.
Miami also added Luol Deng, one of the league’s better defenders, to replace James.
“I look at the Eastern Conference, Miami has ruled the conference the last four years, they’re broken up,” Pierce said. “Not to say they’re not going to be any good. They still have Dwyane Wade, they still have Bosh.
“Cleveland’s going to be good because of LeBron. He’s the best player in the game. They added Kevin Love, but still [are] a question mark.
“This team has been together a couple years, Washington, keep adding pieces. You look at Chicago, they’re going to be in the conversation. But, you know, they’re not a team you can say is a favorite. They haven’t been to the Finals. They haven’t won anything. So why not us?”
One team Pierce did not mention is Toronto. The Raptors were the No. 3 seed in last season’s playofffs after winning 48 games. Akin to the Wizards, they are a team with young core pieces in the backcourt — point guard Kyle Lowry, shooting guard Terrence Ross — plus springy small forward DeMar DeRozan viewed as on the rise.
Where the Wizards fit in the frayed Eastern Conference will begin to be determined Wednesday. Washington opens against the revamped Heat and is quickly getting healthy following an unforgiving preseason filled with injuries.
Shooting guard Glen Rice Jr., who sprained his ankle, and forward Kris Humphries, who had surgery for a cut on his hand, should be ready to play, according to coach Randy Wittman.
“I believe this team can be in the finals in the Eastern Conference,” Pierce said.
The offseason upheaval in the conference has created a chance for that.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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