Pat Riley identified Mario Chalmers as the Miami Heat's starting point guard in the offseason.

Still, Norris Cole is confident he is prepared to assume the starting spot.

“I’m ready to be a starter," Cole said on media day.

Cole averaged 6.4 points and 3 assists last season.

Julius Randle projects in the NBA as a power forward, but the Los Angeles Lakers have been impressed with his ability to defend threes and handle the ball.

"He's got super quick feet and I think if there's one thing you didn't see much at Kentucky, as you do watching him every day, is that he's got really gifted quickness, first step, [and] he loves contact," Mitch Kupchak said.

"He can defend small forwards. Do I see him right now as the prototypical small forward?  Probably not," Kupchak said.  "But I could see him bringing the ball up the court.  I could see him seeing a gap, getting a step on a guy and making a play -- whether it's finishing or finding somebody that's open.  Those are ball-handling skills that you wouldn't see power forwards have very often."

Still, Kupchak tried to temper expectations for the rookie.

"Julius is still 19 years old," Kupchak said. "You wouldn’t know that by looking at him, because he’s really a well-developed, big, strong, athletic kid. Over the years, I've never looked at a rookie and said, 'Hey, this guy's gonna bring us to the top.'  It doesn't do any good to have high expectations."

Chris Bosh admitted late last season that he preferred not to play inside as much as he did with the Toronto Raptors, but he refreshed his interior game during the offseason.

“It’s just like riding a bike,” Bosh said. “You never forget. I have a lot of experience, years and years. Even though I didn’t get much experience, I always worked on it because I knew I was going to keep it sharp.”

Bosh is now the highest-paid player on the Miami Heat after signing a five-year, $118 million deal.

“Just the demand night in and night out,” Bosh said. “Being in that position to where you’re expected to have a certain amount of output, to play a certain amount of minutes and score points and get a certain amount of rebounds, it’s going to be tough. But I enjoy that challenge. I’ve always enjoyed it. It’s just what comes natural to me. I’m excited. I’m looking forward to everything.”

“They didn’t need me to do that [play in the post]. (Wade) and LeBron were our post guys. I kind of really used to those tools that I gained and put it all together.”

Frank Vogel insists he believes the Indiana Pacers will continue to be a competing team despite losing Paul George to injury and Lance Stephenson in free agency.

“We’re going to be fine,” Vogel said. “We’ve got more than enough to compete with the best and we’re going to have another great season. Our approach is, we’re going to try to not skip a beat.

“Two guys being gone – Lance being gone, Paul not being with us because of injury – creates opportunities for other guys. Both at that position and also at other positions to carry a bigger role.”

Vogel sees the lack of George and Stephenson next season as further opportunity for wing players, including Chris Copeland and free agent acquisitions C.J. Miles, Rodney Stuckey and Damjan Rudez.

“Those guys are solid NBA veterans,” Vogel said. “It’s not like we’re going to fill the spots with guys who were in the D League last year. And we feel [2013 first-rounder] Solomon Hill is going to be an elite defensive player and a guy who can knock down open shots. We could have played him 25 minutes a game last year and we would have been all right. We just had such depth.

“Chris Copeland is going to get a chance to play more. Damjan Rudez, one of the best shooters in Europe, is coming over to play at the ‘three’ or the ‘four.’ So we’ve got answers. You look at that, combined with our point guard rotation’s intact with George Hill and C.J. Watson, our big rotation’s intact with [Luis] Scola, [Roy] Hibbert and [Ian] Mahinmi. There are reasons to be optimistic.”

Taj Gibson privately isn't too thrilled about the prospect of continuing to be a reserve forward, according to sources.

But Gibson has been an upbeat, team-first player who values winning and chemistry too much to make it an issue or distraction.

The Chicago Bulls signed Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic this offseason.

Gregg Popovich made sure the San Antonio Spurs used their 2013 NBA Finals defeat as motiviation, but he faces the opposite problem now.

“I'm worried for one reason,” Popovich said. “They are human beings. They are going to feel satisfied.”

The Spurs defeated the Miami Heat in five games for the championship last season. Miami stole Game 2 on the Spurs' home court before losing three in a row.

“When they won Game 2,” Popovich said, “they probably didn't handle that win real well. They were probably thinking that we got lucky in Game 1, with the air conditioning issue, and they thought they were just going to do it again. As two-time defending champs, it was natural. This had become their place in the world.”

The Spurs rebounded from losing Game 2.

“There was a different mantra,” Popovich said. “Boarding the plane, before practices, during shootaround, we said, 'We came here to win two.' We totally believed at that point. We thought we were better.”

Brandon Jennings has gained approximately 25 extra pounds of muscle in the offseason.

“I’m about 185, 190 on my good days,” said Jennings, noticeably thicker but still wiry.

Jennings expects the added weight to help on defense, as well as absorbing contact when driving to the basket.

Jennings also said Stan Van Gundy reminds him of Scott Skiles, who was his first coach with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“He’s really big on details and he said you’re gonna have to play defense and give your all, every night,” Jennings said. “He already said it, I’m not expecting you to lock guys up one on one. Guys are just too good. But what we can do is give a good effort and play team defense.”

The San Antonio Spurs are taking a more active involvement in the development of unsigned players whom they own the draft rights for in the NBA.

The Spurs have sent an assistant to work with Livio Jean-Charles.

"David was sent by the Spurs, and he will be present throughout the year," said Jean-Charles in an interview with BeBasket. "He is here to witness but also be involved with my season here. But I want to be clear, Peter Vincent is in charge of my evolution at ASVEL."

Tony Parker partially owns ASVEL.

The Spurs also played a role in setting a timetable for Davis Betrans' return from injury. Betrans was a 2011 draft pick of the Spurs, but he has no contractual obligations to the team.

The Miami Heat lost LeBron James in the offseason and have also made some key changes to their coaching staff, which will result in a vastly different identity.

“You will see some tweaks in how we play,” said a Heat official.

Miami's gambling defense, which left open too many three-point shooters, needs addressing.

“We can’t just show up and expect to win it in the fourth quarter any more,” said the official.

Kenneth Faried has noticed the increased respect he is receiving due to his play for Team USA in the World Cup.

"I'm starting to gain respect," Faried said. "People are starting to respect me more. And I'm excited about that. But I'm more focused right now on just trying to get the gold. I want to win that gold medal so I can hang it with the rest of the accolades I've gotten that people thought I couldn't get. My mom will be ecstatic about that and my dad will be, too."

Faried said he is not concerned about his contractual status but will focus on it once he is finished with Team USA. Faried can negotiate a contract extension with the Denver Nuggets until Oct. 31.

"I'm not worried about [the Oct. 31 deadline for a contract extension] right now," Faried said. "After this is over with, then I'll focus on what's going on outside of just stepping on the court and moneywise and things like that. [But] I do feel as though I've opened eyes, and people are starting to show respect now. So that's a great honor to have and recognize who you are."