An owner of the Miami Heat in NBA 2K12 doesn’t have to do too much to get the franchise in position to compete for an NBA title. In the video game world this truly is a Dream Team, but that doesn’t mean the roster is good enough as is, even with the Shane Battier signing. 

Here are a few moves that can be made to set the Heat up for greatness, this season and beyond.

 

 

Release Juwan Howard
A long, long time ago in an NBA galaxy far, far away, Howard was good. Howard, a 55-rated power forward, gives you absolutely nothing. Plus, it will give you an open roster spot for a certain gun-toting point guard, which leads to the next step.

Sign Gilbert Arenas
While there is no option in 2K12 to install metal detectors at the locker room door, signing Arenas is still a good move for the Heat. One of the team's weaknesses is the glaring hole at point. Sure, you have Mario Chalmers (69 overall rating), Eddie House (62) and rookie Norris Cole (64), but none of them provide the overall talent that Arenas can bring to South Beach.

Arenas signed at a reasonable price and to a one-year deal, which is a great bargain for someone who averaged nearly 30 points a short while ago. He is not a guy you want long-term, especially with Cole and his high potential waiting in the wings on your roster. However, Cole's ratings jump after the first year, especially if he is free to get valuable minutes as a backup to Arenas.

So with the signing of Arenas, House and Chalmers are both expendable which can lead to a certain trade:

 

 

Trade Chalmers and House to the Denver Nuggets for Chris Anderson and 2013 first-round pick

With Arenas and Cole, both Chalmers and House are no longer needed. A great feature in 2K12 is the trade finder and when you plug Chalmers into it and you get 29 offers. The best one, arguably, is the Nuggets' offering.

The trade helps another weakness, Miami's rebounding, down low. Anderson has an A- rating for rebounding, and he radically ups the tattoo quotient and, well, the cool factor of your roster.

That 2013 first-round pick can come in handy later, either as trade bait or to land a top rookie in the third year of your franchise. I know some of you think this is unrealistic, but this is a video game. Have some fun with it.

Trade Mike Miller for J.J. Redick

Miller isn’t the sharp shooter he used to be, in real life or on the digital court. Redick, though, is money from 3-point range. Outside shooting is the third and final relative weakness of the Heat that gets shored up before the opening tip of the season.

Now, go win not one, not two, not three -- you get the picture.

Season results

I played through a season with these moves, playing roughly half of the 82 games schedule.

Predictably, the Heat finished with the best record in the NBA with a 63-19 mark, overcoming an 8-10 start.

LeBron James averaged 27.4 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game to win the MVP. Dwayne Wade averaged 24 points, Chris Bosh 16.1 and Arenas 14.4 points per game (and zero gun arrests).

Interestingly, as I was playing the season, the Lakers offered a trade that I nearly accepted. L.A. offered Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace (the artist formerly known as Ron Artest) for Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. I declined, however, but for a minute I considered it for the shear spectacular coolness of having Kobe, LeBron, Metta World Peace, Arenas and Anderson on the floor at the same time.

The Heat, though, came up short in the playoffs, losing to the Bulls in seven games in the conference final.

Oh, well. No ring again for King James.

Better luck next year.

How would you tweak the Heat to get LeBron that ring he craves?