Quinn played in 42 games for the Miami Heat this season and he averaged 9.7 minutes, 3.4 points, 0.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.  He only shot 36.6% from the floor and 35.1% from three-point range.  It will be interesting to see if the Heat move Quinn up on the depth chart to replace Gary Payton or if the Heat will sign a free-agent or draft a player to back up Jason Williams next season.

The Miami Heat won the Southeast Division with a 44-38 record, 3 games ahead of the Washington Wizards.  The Heat were a solid 27-14 at home, but only 17-24 on the road.  The Heat were only 27-25 against the Eastern Conference and 9-7 against Division foes.  They averaged only 94.6 points per game and allowed 95.5 per game.  The Heat finished their season winning 5 of their last 10 games and won the Division because of the Wizards’ collapse due to major injuries.

The Miami Heat will likely limit Shaq and D-Wade’s minutes if he even lets them play at all.  It would be better if he just let the dynamic duo watch the last regular season game from the bench.  Look for guys like Dorell Wright, Michael Doleac, Eddie Jones and Chris Quinn to get a lot of playing time in the last game of the season.  The Heat are locked in as the #4 seed and they will play either the Chicago Bulls or the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs, so they will need all of their players healthy as both the Bulls and Cavs are really good basketball teams.  Plus, the Heat will not have the home court advantage which will make things even tougher in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Backup point guard Gary Payton will miss the remainder of the regular season with a torn left calf muscle.  Payton is hopeful that he will be able to return on April 21 or 22 for the beginning of the NBA Playoffs.  This year’s playoffs will likely be the swan song of Payton’s career as he has played in 67 games this season and averaged 5.3 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists.  He also only shot 39.6% from the floor and his once great defensive skills are eroding. 

Dwyane Wade has returned from his dislocated left shoulder and he’s played in the last three games for the Heat.  They are trying to bring him along slowly as he’s only averaged 27.3 minutes per game.  In those games, Wade has averaged 14.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game.  Wade is a hero in the Miami area already and this seems to be totally his own call in coming back, but, if he gets re-injured this was a really bad decision for the young man.  Playoff basketball is often very physical and you know whoever plays him in the first round is going to knock him down and crack him in his bad shoulder.  Unless the Miami Heat repeat as World Champs, D-Wade should have just took the time off to get healthy.