The Miami Heat have had great teams before and they are set up to have one this season. With the addition of Kyle Lowry, the Heat have officially formed a new Big 3.
They have three top-tier NBA players in Lowry, Jimmy Butler, and Bam Adebayo, and are ready to make a run at the title. Funny enough, the last time Miami won a championship was when they had a different Big 3.
The Big 3 of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh is commonly referred to as the beginning of the super team era. They were absolutely dominant and brought two championships to South Beach.
How does this current Miami Heat Big 3 compare to Miami’s last Big 3? How are they the same and how are they different?
Ways the new Miami Heat Big 3 compares and contrasts to the original Big 3: Contrasts – No LeBron James
This seems like an overly obvious statement, but it means more than the actual phrasing. Saying “no LeBron James” is simply saying that the Heat don’t have a top-five player in the league.
When James was leading Miami’s Big 3 at the start of the 2010s, he was the best player in the world. This current Big 3 is great, but they don’t have a player of that caliber.
Having James on the team definitely rose the stock of the Heat. This isn’t to say that this current roster won’t be successful, it’s just that they are not overwhelming favorites.
Jimmy Butler is a great player, but he’s not the icon that James was, and still is. This difference isn’t a bad thing, but it isn’t really a good thing either.
Ways the new Miami Heat Big 3 compares and contrasts to the original Big 3: Compares – One main star
One of the main similarities between the two big threes is that everyone knows who the main guy is. For the original Big 3, it was LeBron James; for this new Big 3, it is Jimmy Butler.
While it took the old Big 3 a season to figure this out, the new Big 3 will all know their roles right away. Butler is the guy in Miami and has been ever since he signed with the team.
Butler may not be the player who will lead the team in scoring, but he is by far their strongest leader. He is the face of the franchise and will be until he retires.
The roles may not be the same, but each Big 3 definitely had pretty well-defined roles for each of its players. Butler’s is to be the leader.
Ways the new Miami Heat Big 3 compares and contrasts to the original Big 3: Contrasts – An elite point guard
Calling Kyle Lowry elite at this point in his career may seem like a stretch, but the point is that the Miami Heat have a great point guard at the helm this time around.
The lack of a point guard never hurt the Heat in the early 2010s because LeBron James was such a great playmaker. That being said, having an All-Star caliber point guard will definitely help them this time around.
Mario Chalmers was no slouch, but Lowry is certainly the better player, even at his older age. His leadership and championship experience will be extremely helpful in leading this Miami team to the top.
Having that go-to ball-handler will be a huge help for this current Big 3. It’s also a big-time difference in how each of the Big 3s were built.
Ways the new Miami Heat Big 3 compares and contrasts to the original Big 3: Compares – Elite defense
People seem to forget about how great the original Miami Heat Big 3 was on the defensive end. Throughout their four years together, they were a top-six defense every season.
LeBron James almost won a Defensive Player of the Year award, and both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were great defenders, too. This current Big 3 has a chance to mimic that success.
The Heat have been known for their defense in recent years, and it is projected to be even better this season. Bam Adebayo has a real shot at winning DPOY.
Add Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry into that mix, and the Miami Heat are going to be a force to be reckoned with this year. Expect their defense to be as good, or even better than the original Big 3.
Ways the new Miami Heat Big 3 compares and contrasts to the original Big 3: Contrasts – Scoring load
When the Miami Heat formed their original Big 3 back in 2012, everyone knew that James, Wade, and Bosh would take on the majority of the scoring. For this new Big 3, that simply is not the case.
It could be easily argued that this current Heat team has better depth than the original Big 3 team. They may not be better overall, but the depth is there.
Butler, Lowry, and Adebayo are not score-first players, whereas James, Wade, and Bosh were at the time. This means that the scoring is going to be much more spread out this year than it was during the original Big 3 era.
This isn’t a bad thing by any means, in fact, some could argue it’s a good thing. This current Big 3 will just have a lot of responsibilities in other areas of the game.