Cleveland Cavaliers' owner Dan Gilbert can empathize with the decision made by the Oklahoma City Thunder to trade James Harden before he hit free agency.

Gilbert was relating the Cavaliers' experience with LeBron James to Sam Presti's preemptive trade of Harden to the Rockets. Gilbert expressed reget being unable to trade James to provide a return for the Cavaliers.

”The key thing, whoever you are and wherever you are, you can not wait,” Gilbert said. ”The big lesson was if a player is not willing to extend, no matter who they are, no matter where they are playing, no matter what kind of season you had, you can not risk going into a summer and having them leave in unrestricted free agency and get nothing back for it.”

James was eventually moved to the Miami Heat in a sign-and-trade that gave the Cavaliers a future first round pick.

“I’m sure the player or whoever would have said, ‘Of course I would have stayed. You guys screwed up and ruined the whole franchise.’ You’re in a no-win situation,” said Gilbert.

Rajon Rondo committed a flagrant foul on Dwyane Wade during the fourth quarter of the Miami Heat's 120-107 win over the Celtics.

"It was a punk play," said Wade about the foul after the game. "He clotheslined me."

LeBron James may post similar assist numbers to his tenure with the Cavaliers this season as the Heat incorporate Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis into the lineup.

James averaged a career-high 8.6 assists with the Cavaliers during the 09-10 season.

"That's possible," James said. "I've always kind of been up there in the top leaders in assists, and I haven't had this much firepower around me before. But it's all to the credit of my teammates. They're the guys, they have to make the shot, I just try to put it there on time. They have to actually make the shot for me to get the credit for the assist."

"He can read [the court] as well as anybody I've been around," Erik Spoelstra said. "He has that type of IQ but also incidence. You look around the gym and we have proven NBA scorers. We've found a player that allows everybody an opportunity to use the skills that they proven over the years. LeBron has that complete skill set."

The Miami Heat have cut Rodney Carney and Jarvis Varnado.

The Heat roster is now at 16, with Garrett Temple, Josh Harrellson, Terrel Harris and Juwan Howard vying for the final spots.

Mario Chalmers returned on Wednesday from a strained quadriceps, allowing the Miami Heat to start their regular lineup for the first time in the preseason.

Erik Spoelstra will start Spoelstra, LeBron James, Shane Battier and Chris Bosh.

Udonis Haslem also made his preseason debut.

Dwyane Wade is far ahead of schedule in recovering from offseason knee surgery.

"We didn't anticipate him really competing in this many practices," Erik Spoelstra said. "He's getting stronger. He's getting quicker. You see a lot of that quick twitch that we've known Dwayne for so well for all these years. You're seeing that come back."

Shane Battier believes his teammate, LeBron James, could have played within the system at Duke for Mike Krzyzewski had he not gone directly to the NBA.

“You know what? LeBron could have played at Duke, and I don’t say that about a lot of guys,” Battier said. “There are a lot of All-Stars who couldn’t have played at Duke. LeBron is one of the few All-Stars who could have played there and survived.

“You have to be mentally tough. You have to know the game — you can’t be some idiot out there, some dummy running around. You have to play for the team and be selfless. Those are all of LeBron James’ qualities.”

James has played dozens of games for Krzyzewski as part of the United States National Team.

“We have a great relationship,” James said. “We’ve been together since ’05, and our relationship has grown every year. I’ve grown from a young man into a man into a leader of that team. He’s helped me develop that. I give a lot of credit to him.”

LeBron James received 73.3% of the vote by general managers as the best small forward in the NBA.

James also received 16.7% of the vote at the power forward position to place third.

James is expected to play more at power forward this season as the Miami Heat feature 'position-less' basketball.

LeBron James' game is much different as he enters his third season with the Miami Heat in comparison to the way he played during his tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“Totally different,” Erik Spoelstra said. “He has completely transformed himself as a basketball player. And in the process, he has completely transformed us.” 

James played from the outside-in while with the Cavaliers, attacking from the perimeter in one-on-one isolations.

Spoelstra regrets continuing that offense scheme when James joined the Heat.

“Thinking conventionally that first season with LeBron -- that was my biggest regret as a coach,” Spoelstra said. “I put LeBron in a box. And that’s the worst thing I could have done.” 

The Heat finally realized that James didn't fit the mold of a conventional small forward.

“LeBron was a small forward, that’s what we knew,” Spoelstra said. “That was how we built and ran the team (in 2010-11). But after the Dallas series, we decided to start from scratch. 

"We always talked about how versatile our team was, but we never thought about what it meant. We had to do away with convention." 

The Heat needed James to play bigger when Chris Bosh left the team on bereavement in March.

“We need you to play like a big man,” Spoelstra recalls telling James. “Forget everything you know, you’re a 4 now.” 

NBA general managers were asked which player they would sign if they were starting a franchise from scratch and 80% said LeBron James.

James and Kevin Durant each received 37% of the vote last season.

Durant was second with 16.7%, followed by Dwight Howard at 3.3%.