But not to Detroit Pistons forward Tracy McGrady.
While most predicted greatness for the Heat when LeBron James and Chris Bosh joined Dwyane Wade in Miami over the summer, McGrady said he knew they were bound to struggle.
They have. The Heat are just 9-8 and sit fifth in the Eastern Conference standings. They recently lost three consecutive games, and they held a players-only meeting Saturday night after a 106-95 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
“It's what I expected,” McGrady said of the Heat's struggles Sunday after the Pistons suffered a double-overtime loss to the Knicks. “You've got two guys (James and Wade) that really don't mix. I mean, they're the same type of player. They just don't complement each other.”
Some predicted that the Heat would win 70-plus games in the regular season and be the favorites to win the NBA title. But McGrady said he is not surprised they have struggled the way they have early this season.
“Not at all,” he said. “It's tough to get that chemistry. You can't just go somewhere and create that type of chemistry. (James) had that in Cleveland. He had everything going for him. Great energy in the building. He created a great atmosphere. I enjoyed going to Cleveland because the atmosphere was just unbelievable.
“The chemistry he had with his teammates was unbelievable,” McGrady continued. “You can't just go somewhere and create that. You can see it on his face. He's not having fun. I'm so used to him doing all his antics on the basketball court, and he's not doing that. You can see that something is just not right.”
McGrady compared the Heat's three main players to Boston's threesome of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
“If you look at Boston's big three, they're traditional guys,” McGrady said. “You've got a true shooting guard, you have a true small forward and you have a true power forward. You've got a shooting guard that doesn't need the ball.
“In their case, both of those guys need the ball. They're not great outside shooters, so they just can't stand out there and wait for one to pass the ball and knock down an open shot. That's just not their game. They've got to have the ball to make plays and catch a rhythm that way.”
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