Even before Dwyane Wade's left hamstring balked and then his right gave way, before the starting point guard emerged as the team's best backup shooting guard, before Shannon Brown arrived, started and then departed, the question loomed:
How could the Miami Heat, a team with hopes of more than merely contending for the playoffs, not have had more in place at shooting guard?
Yes, Wade's latest hamstring issue came at a time when Wade again was hitting his stride, but this also is a player who turned 33 on Jan. 17. And yes, had Josh McRoberts remained healthy, the added frontcourt playmaking could have offset some of the backcourt shortcomings.
But basically what the Heat have offered behind Wade this season has been:
-- An experiment with Brown that lasted less than a month.
-- Hope that Danny Granger could take time at the position despite a lack of agility that mostly has reduced him to a standstill-shooting combo forward.
The Heat start a four game road trip on Sunday in Boston.
-- The not-quite-ready rawness of rookie swingman James Ennis.
-- The initial hope of the sweet-shooting stroke of undrafted rookie Andre Dawkins, followed by his current undrafted-rookie replacement Tyler Johnson.
-- Mario Chalmers as both starting point guard and backup shooting guard.
Along the way, there have been opportunities to add the likes of John Salmons, Leandro Barbosa, Wayne Ellington and Nate Wolters, as well as players who since have shifted overseas, such as MarShon Brooks, Jordan Crawford and Toney Douglas. There also now appears to be the possibility of Mo Williams, with the lottery-bound Minnesota Timberwolves with little need for the veteran.
Instead, as Wade deals with his latest hamstring setback, there are the undersized (Chalmers, Norris Cole, Shabazz Napier) and unproven (Ennis, Johnson).
"I agree. Right now we're a little raw," Heat President Pat Riley said. "The injuries have exacerbated it. But also this is an opportunity maybe for some of these guys to get a shot at it. I'm concerned about it. But I'm not overly concerned about it."
For Riley, it still is about adding difference makers, not draining already limited assets.
"I don't think there's a player in the NBA DL I want to bring in right now," Riley said. "And I don't think there's a veteran two that we've been offered that isn't just of a short term.
"If I can move down the road, what I would like to move down the road with is I want to get to 'great' fast. I want to get there. I don't want to get to good. I want to get to great. We're waiting to see if something opens up. And there's about three or four teams that are still, 'Well, are we in or are we out?', that all of a sudden will say, 'OK, he's available, they're available.' "
Riley stressed while patience can be difficult at times such as these, prudence also is essential as the Feb. 19 trading deadline draws closer.
"If I could find a backup two that I really liked, that Coach really liked, that fits with us, that can be a player for us, then we probably already would have made that move," he said. "But I also don't want to be extorted. I don't want to be give up too much. The cupboard is bare."
Instead, Riley returns to versatility, of again testing Granger or even Luol Deng at shooting guard in bigger lineups, or that Ennis or Johnson could yet provide a breakthrough, with Ennis offering hope with his Friday performance and even Johnson offering a bit of intrigue.
What Riley said he won't do is make a move out of desperation, not that he says he's there. He still has the $2.65 million disabled-player exception granted for McRoberts that could be put into play by March 10, which also affords potential use on the March 1 buyout market or for when players return from overseas leagues in February and March (it is, however, not large enough to take in Mo Williams).
"We feel like right now we're covered," he said. "This [Wade] injury doesn't help, but we're covered at that position. But we're very active in looking for the best fit. If there's a good fit out there that can play and help us, and play 15 or 20 minute every night and really help us, as a scorer, as a defender, then that's why we have the injury exception. But there's nobody there.
"Some guys come back from China? Or some guys hanging out there in the NBA DL? Some other players via trade? But right now, we're not just going to grab somebody. We've been offered people, but we've got until the 19th, and we'll see where we are. Now, if we have to fast track that because of Dwyane, then maybe we might think that."
Young center only bright spot in loss to Dallas. Whiteside grabs 24 rebounds and puts up 16 points in 28 minutes.
A three-way deal with the Detroit Pistons and 'Wolves might make sense, with Norris Cole going to the Pistons and Williams arriving from Minnesota, with salary-cap ballast and second-round picks to fill out the equation.
Or Riley could take solace from what Ennis or Johnson offered Friday.
But based on the Heat's 20-26 record, it is getting late for an issue that seemingly should have been addressed far earlier.
