A Heat-ed Debate: LeBron James v. Dwyane Wade

Soon, the Miami Heat will face the Boston Celtics on National TV to kick off the NBA season, In this time Coach Erik Spolstra will have to decide many things about his new look team, he will have to determine how to defend against opponents and how to rotate their versatile bench players. But the defense is not the problem for the Miami Heat as the speed of the backcourt and the length of the front court will create a lot of blocks and turnovers for the Miami Heat. The rotation of the Miami Heat also shouldn't be a problem as the "Three Kings" should get plenty of minutes and Joel Anthony, Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, Zydrunas Illgauskas and Mario Chalmers will consume most of the minutes that are left.

The real problem will be on the offensive end (and a good problem that teams like the Knicks dream of) where Spolestra will have to make a desicion.

LeBron James or Dwyane Wade

Spolestra will make this decision constantly, from deciding on who will check the best perimeter player from the opposing team, to who will handle the ball on offense, to who will be the go to guy in the fourth quarter. This decision will shape the Miami Heat because besides the fact that these are the two best players on the team and they are two of the best three players in the game, but they both are identical in playing styles

LeBron James' Career Stats (7 years)
In 40 minutes he has shot .475 percent for the field and .33 percent from three for an average of 27.8 points per game with seven rebounds and seven assists as well as as 1.7 steals and almost one block per game. He has shot .742 percent from the line, averages 3.3 turnovers and two personal fouls a game.

Dwyane Wade's Career Stats (7 years)
In 37.6 minute, Wade shot .482 percent from the field and .29 percent from the field of an average of 25.4 points, 6.6 assists and 4.9 rebounds a game as well as 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He has shot 77 percent from the line, averages 3.7 turnovers and 2.5 personal fouls per game.

These two are relatively equal is every aspect of their game and are elite in many categories, so to break down the three aspects that Spolestra will have to decide.

Easy, both of them. Both are good man to man defenders but they are two of the three best help defenders in the game. They anticipate the ball and make a move one it, whether it is a steal, a block or to trap the ball handler to force a turnover. Switch both of them off gives both the opportunity to do what they do best while change the look of the defense to throw off the opposing teams offense.

Of course, it would have to depend on the position of the best player. Speedy point guards will be primarily guarded by Wade and strong Small forwards will be guarded James. But shooting guards will be seeing a lot of LeBron and Wade combos. Chalmers is also a good help defender so the front court of Miami will create a lot of turnovers.

However, the better man to man defender is Dwayne Wade. He has better footwork and long arms with the basketball IQ to steal and on the ball. LeBron is the superior off ball defender and has the speed to defend the basketball against players he is not checking and both can do the other very well, but if Kobe Bryant comes to town, I want Wade to guard him.

Hopefully, not one person, the reason why both players have high turnovers is that there was barely ball movement on offense as the main players were handling the ball for too long. Still, both the Cavaliers and the Heat as a team had low turnovers. The two together should not only create more assists for the Heat but also fewer turnovers, since it will not always be the same player passing the rock.  Chalmers will also have the opportunity to handle the ball.

Still, LeBron will probably be the primary ball handler in the half-court, because of his height and his pinpoint passes. And while Wade is a capable passer, he wasn't as good of a ball handler as King James last year with more turnovers and less assists. Still, Wade will handle the ball, but not as much as LeBron James.

This is probably the biggest question mark since both Wade and LeBron are known for their last second dramatics. The good news is that they will blow out 70 to 80 percent of the teams out by the last two minutes of the game. However, the Heat will face some close games during the season and will need a go to guy in the clutch.

Or will they?

The fact is that you can now run offensive plays at the last two minutes because they have two great clutch players and two other players (Bosh and Chalmers) who have made big time shots in the past. I expect the ball to be passed around until an open player will take the shot. If I had to choose between the two I would choose LeBron James to have the ball in the regular season, while Wade will get it in the playoffs. Still, I expect ball movement on offense that will open lanes for a slam dunk instead of fadeaway jumpshots.