Over the course of the NBA Finals, the lineups on the floor have become progressively smaller. The result has been beautiful basketball: two skilled teams playing 4-out for 48 minutes. Read More. Written by Jonathan Tjarks on Jun 17, 2013
Erik Spoelstra wants to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.
"If we learned one thing from the 2006 title, it was that you need to continue to reinvent yourself and improve as a basketball team," Spoelstra said. "That year we brought the exact the same team back, we thought it would be the same path and same journey. It never is.
"It's always going to be different. And we ended up losing the first round and we were swept in four games. Another year later, we only won 15 games and we were the worst team in basketball and that's how fragile this game can be."
Miami signed Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis to add depth and three-point shooting to a rotation that includes Shane Battier, Mike Miller and James Jones.
The following 36 NBA players are currently under contract for the 12-13 season and are on their respective country's Olympic rosters:
Atlanta Hawks - no players
Boston Celtics - no players
Brooklyn Nets - Deron Williams (USA)
Charlotte Bobcats - no players
Chicago Bulls - Luol Deng (Great Britain)
Cleveland Cavaliers - Anderson Varejao (Brazil)
Dallas Mavericks - no players
Denver Nuggets - Timofey Mozgov (Russia)
Detroit Pistons - no players
Golden State Warriors - no players
Houston Rockets - no players
Indiana Pacers - no players
Los Angeles Clippers - Chris Paul (USA)
Los Angeles Lakers - Kobe Bryant (USA), Pau Gasol (Spain)
Memphis Grizzlies - Marc Gasol (Spain)
Miami Heat - LeBron James (USA)
Milwaukee Bucks - no players
Minnesota Timberwolves - Kevin Love (USA), Alexey Shved (Russia)
New Orleans Hornets - Anthony Davis (USA), Al-Farouq Aminu (Nigeria)
New York Knicks - Carmelo Anthony (USA), Tyson Chandler (USA), Pablo Prigioni (Argentina)
Oklahoma City Thunder - Kevin Durant (USA), Russell Westbrook (USA), James Harden (USA), Serge Ibaka (Spain)
Orlando Magic - no players
Philadelphia 76ers - Andre Iguodala (USA)
Phoenix Suns - Luis Scola (Argentina)
Portland Trail Blazers - Nicolas Batum (France), Victor Claver (Spain), Joel Freeland (Great Britain)
Sacramento Kings - no players
San Antonio Spurs - Tony Parker (France), Manu Ginobili (Argentina), Boris Diaw (France), Tiago Splitter (Brazil), Patty Mills (Australia), Nando De Colo (France)
Toronto Raptors - Jose Calderon (Spain), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Linas Klezia (Lithuania)
Utah Jazz - no players
Washington Wizards - Nene (Brazil), Kevin Seraphin (France)
The Heat beat the Spurs by a final score of 83-78 in Summer League play on Friday.
Terrel Harris had 25 points and five rebounds for Miami. Justin Hamilton had 15 points and eight rebounds and Adrian Thomas scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting.
Tyler Wilkerson had 12 points and five rebounds for San Antonio. James Anderson had 10 points and seven boards and Cory Joseph had nine points and six assists.
The Warriors defeated the Heat by a final score of 65-62 in Summer League play on Wednesday.
Charles Jenkins had 17 points for Golden State. Harrison Barnes had 15 points and seven rebounds and Jeremy Tyler added 12 points and six boards.
Norris Cole led Miami with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Terrel Harris had 10 points and five boards and Drew Viney had 10 points and eight rebounds.
The National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League, the official minor league of the NBA, announced the affiliation system for the 2012-13 season. An all-time high eleven NBA teams will have single NBA D-League affiliates including first-year partnerships between the Boston Celtics and Maine Red Claws and the Portland Trail Blazers and Idaho Stampede.
Here are the affiliation for the 12-13 season:
AUSTIN TOROS (TX)
San Antonio Spurs
BAKERSFIELD JAM (CA)
Atlanta Hawks Los Angeles Clippers Phoenix Suns Toronto Raptors
CANTON CHARGE (OH)
Cleveland Cavaliers
DAKOTA WIZARDS (Bismarck, ND)
Golden State Warriors
ERIE BAYHAWKS (PA)
New York Knicks
FORT WAYNE MAD ANTS (IN)
Charlotte Bobcats Detroit Pistons Indiana Pacers Milwaukee Bucks
IDAHO STAMPEDE (Boise, ID)
Portland Trail Blazers
IOWA ENERGY (Des Moines, IA)
Chicago Bulls Denver Nuggets New Orleans Hornets Washington Wizards
LOS ANGELES D-FENDERS (CA)
Los Angeles Lakers
MAINE RED CLAWS (Portland, ME)
Boston Celtics
RENO BIGHORNS (NV)
Memphis Grizzlies Sacramento Kings Utah Jazz
RIO GRANDE VALLEY VIPERS (TX)
Houston Rockets
SIOUX FALLS SKYFORCE (SD)
Miami Heat Minnesota Timberwolves Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers
"The game today is different than it was five years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago," Riley said. "…It's sort of a position-less game. We don't talk about point guards anymore, two guards or shooting guards or power forwards. As a matter of fact, when the word power forward comes out, I want to eat some oatmeal."
Riley has acquired a collection of players who are no longer defined by position.
"It's just recently got like that," Chris Bosh said earlier this week. "I think this past series [the NBA Finals] that was played is going to change basketball. I think a lot of kids out there are seeing how fast the game is. We had some success doing it so I think a lot of other teams will have that position, or attempt to have that position, where everybody is quick enough to guard everybody and everybody can put the ball on the floor and make plays."
The Clippers have their entire $5 million mid-level exception and can offer Ray Allen a third season, which would beat that of the Celtics in overall value.