1 Player from each decade the Miami Heat gave up on too soon

2000s: Lamar Odom

Talk about a player who would be better in today's game. We all know Lamar Odom was only in Miami for one season in 2003 and was traded for Shaquille O'Neal, which led to Miami's first NBA championship.

Miami wouldn't have won its first championship if Kobe Bryant and O'Neal had just gotten along. There is a world where those two make it work in Los Angeles. That would have led Odom to stay in Miami with that young core of Dwayne Wade, Carron Butler, and Udnios Haslem. That was a fun team with a lot of potential.

Does that core go on a deep playoff run and get to the finals? Does Pat Riley turn into a free agent to be the final piece? With this core, Miami could have gone through many different options. Odom scored 17.1 points with a career-high 9.7 rebounds per game in his one year in Miami.

That core went to the second round against the Indiana Pacers. Going to the second round of the playoffs with a young core is a step in the right Direction. That Direction led to Miami acquiring O'Neal and winning a championship. But, it is fun to think if Odom and Wade played a decade together.