The 2006–07 Miami Heat season was the 19th season for the franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Heat, for the first time in franchise history, entered the season as the defending NBA champions, having defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the 2006 NBA Finals in six games. On January 3, 2007, head coach Pat Riley took a leave of absence citing hip and knee problems and was replaced by Ron Rothstein. Despite injuries to several players, including Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade, the Heat repeated as Southeast division champions. With a record of 44–38, it was clear that the Heat was not the same team of years past. The Heat ended the season with a four-game playoff loss in a sweep to the Chicago Bulls in the first round and the Heat became the first defending NBA champions since the Philadelphia Warriors back in 1957 to be swept in the first round. Following the season, Gary Payton retired.

Key dates June 28 – The 2006 NBA draft took place in New York City. July 8 – The free agency period started. October 10 – The Heat played their first preseason game versus the Detroit Pistons at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. October 31 – The Heat's regular season began with a home game versus the Chicago Bulls, where the championship rings were handed out to the members of the 2005-06 championship team.

Offseason

2006 NBA draft The Miami Heat had no selections in the 2006 NBA draft after the following trades: On July 14, 2004, the L.A. Lakers acquired a 2006 first-round draft pick, Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant from Miami in exchange for Shaquille O'Neal. The L.A. Lakers used the 26th pick to draft Jordan Farmar. On January 31, 2006, Toronto acquired Miami's 2006 second-round draft pick and New Orleans's 2009 second-round draft pick from New Orleans/Oklahoma City in exchange for Aaron Williams. Previously, New Orleans/Oklahoma City acquired Miami's 2006 second-round draft pick on September 30, 2005, from Boston in exchange for Dan Dickau. Previously, Boston acquired 2006 and 2008 second-round draft picks, Qyntel Woods and the draft rights to Albert Miralles on August 8, 2005, from Miami in a five-team trade with Miami, Memphis, New Orleans/Oklahoma City and Utah. Toronto used the 56th pick to draft Edin Bavčić.

Roster

Pre-season 2006 Pre-season game log: 2–5–0 (home: 1–2–0; road: 1–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Venue Record Recap 1 October 10 Detroit Pistons 84–64 Miami Heat Loss Coliseo Puerto Rico (San Juan, Puerto Rico) 0–1 2 October 14 Miami Heat 81–91 Atlanta Hawks Loss Philips Arena 0–2 3 October 17 New Orleans Hornets 105–109 Miami Heat Win American Airlines Arena 1–2 4 October 20 Miami Heat 95–96 Memphis Grizzlies Loss FedEx Forum 1–3 5 October 21 Miami Heat 93–103 San Antonio Spurs Loss AT&T Center 1–4 6 October 24 Miami Heat 92–82 Orlando Magic Win TD Waterhouse Center 2–4 7 October 25 Houston Rockets 96–71 Miami Heat Loss American Airlines Arena 2–5

Regular season

Standings

Game log

October:4-4

Playoffs

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 1 | April 21 | @ Chicago | L 91–96 | Dwyane Wade (21) | O'Neal, Haslem (6) | five players tied (3) | United Center22,183 | 0–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | April 24 | @ Chicago | L 89–107 | Dwyane Wade (21) | O'Neal, Posey (8) | Dwyane Wade (7) | United Center23,097 | 0–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | April 27 | Chicago | L 96–104 | Dwyane Wade (28) | Shaquille O'Neal (13) | Dwyane Wade (5) | American Airlines Arena20,280 | 0–3 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | April 29 | Chicago | L 79–92 | Dwyane Wade (24) | James Posey (18) | Dwyane Wade (10) | American Airlines Arena20,283 | 0–4

Player statistics

Regular season PlayerPF79 79 2,483 654 97 49 26 844 31.4 8.3 1.2 .6 .3 10.7PF 78 15 1,818 339 130 48 17 660 23.3 4.3 1.7 .6 .2 8.5C 77 43 1,572 350 18 13 178 661 20.4 4.5 .2 .2 2.3 8.6SF 71 19 1,919 357 94 71 23 550 27.0 5.0 1.3 1.0 .3 7.7PG 68 28 1,503 132 201 43 3 358 22.1 1.9 3.0 .6 .0 5.3SF 67 35 1,767 180 81 38 2 730 26.4 2.7 1.2 .6 .0 10.9SF 66 19 1,292 272 95 41 46 393 19.6 4.1 1.4 .6 .7 6.0PG 61 55 1,865 141 322 58 1 664 30.6 2.3 5.3 1.0 .0 10.9C 56 0 698 155 22 18 15 200 12.5 2.8 .4 .3 .3 3.6SG 51 50 1,931 239 384 107 62 1,397 37.9 4.7 7.5 2.1 1.2 27.4PG 42 1 408 30 65 15 0 141 9.7 .7 1.5 .4 .0 3.4C 40 39 1,135 297 79 8 55 690 28.4 7.4 2.0 .2 1.4 17.3†SG 35 27 1,033 129 76 46 8 332 29.5 3.7 2.2 1.3 .2 9.5C 28 0 203 41 5 6 4 65 7.3 1.5 .2 .2 .1 2.3SG 12 0 136 16 8 3 2 51 11.3 1.3 .7 .3 .2 4.3PF 8 0 93 11 4 2 0 23 11.6 1.4 .5 .3 .0 2.9

Playoffs PlayerSG4 4 162 19 25 5 2 94 40.5 4.8 6.3 1.3 .5 23.5C4 4 121 34 5 1 6 75 30.3 8.5 1.3 .3 1.5 18.8PG4 4 112 8 14 5 1 23 28.0 2.0 3.5 1.3 .3 5.8PF4 4 103 21 4 1 2 30 25.8 5.3 1.0 .3 .5 7.5SF4 1 139 31 6 8 5 31 34.8 7.8 1.5 2.0 1.3 7.8SF4 1 77 5 2 2 0 20 19.3 1.3 .5 .5 .0 5.0PF4 0 92 9 6 2 1 47 23.0 2.3 1.5 .5 .3 11.8C4 0 55 8 1 0 3 25 13.8 2.0 .3 .0 .8 6.3SG 3 2 66 6 5 1 1 10 22.0 2.0 1.7 .3 .3 3.3PG 2 0 32 4 3 0 0 0 16.0 2.0 1.5 .0 .0 .0C 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0SF 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.0 .0 .0 .0 .0 .0 References