LeBron James Says The Miami Heat Are ‘Going To Be A Contender’ This Season

VIA: Since LeBron James defected back to the Cleveland Cavaliers last summer, the Miami Heat have been left to pick up the pieces. It’s been a bumpy road to say the least, one that saw the Heat narrowly miss the postseason for the first time since before LeBron landed in South Beach. Even prior to that, they’d already lost Chris Bosh for the season to life-threatening blood clots.

But the franchise, the players, and their fan base have a lot to be optimistic about moving forward. After contentious contract negotiations, they were able to re-sign franchise star Dwayne Wade (if only on a short-term deal), they locked down Goran Dragic with a mammoth five-year contract, and they hit the lottery on Draft night when prized prospect Justise Winslow somehow fell into their lap with the 10th overall pick.

They also added a few other utility pieces to fill out their roster, including Amar’e Stoudemire and swingman Gerald Green. All of this was more than enough to indicate to LeBron that his former team is back in the championship mix. Here’s more of what he had to say on the matter during a spot he did with Bleacher Report Radio over the weekend:

“I think Miami is doing some great things,” James said. “They drafted the kid out of Duke, Justise. I think he’s going to be a really good player. They’ve added some big pieces. They signed Amare, I saw that. And Gerald Green is a big piece, I think, as well, coming from Phoenix.

“And the re-signing of Dragic, and C-B [Chris Bosh] coming back, one of my good friends, he’s coming back off of injury, and by getting D-Wade back, they’re going to be a contender.”

The Cavaliers aren’t in bad shape either after they were essentially able to bring back the vast majority of the team that found themselves two wins away from the NBA championship this spring. As far as dream story lines go, watching LeBron battle his former team (and best buddies) for Eastern Conference supremacy would be way up on that list. Of course, they’ll both have to get past teams like the Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks first. But the way both squads are assembled, they appear primed to do just that.