The Miami Heat staved off elimination dating back to Game 6 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. And by doing so they kept the nation’s obsession alive about finally seeing Dwyane Wade face LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals, while seemingly overachieving without the likes of Chris Bosh and later Hassan Whiteside.

They put up a respectable effort — before being eliminated in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals — but the end of the year created more roster questions than anything, with the first batch centering around Bosh.

For all intents and purposes, Miami’s leading scorer expects to be back in the starting lineup when next season tips off. But what does that mean for Luol Deng and Whiteside? The offense stalled with all three in the starting lineup, due to the pace being slowed to a halt with no spacing. However, it excelled with Deng at the power forward position, as he found his footing for the first time in two seasons with the Heat.

He was able to attack the boards and cut more in a frontcourt role that will probably revive the second half of his career. That does not fit with Bosh back, though — not unless the 14 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks of Whiteside walks in the offseason. That’s something Miami absolutely cannot afford after being abused by the Toronto Raptors’ big men (Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo) in round two.

Losing Deng at the expense of retaining Whiteside and sliding Bosh back into position does not sound bad, but big man insurance has to be acquired in case their young triple-double threat goes down or their vet has a third bout with blood clots. Because the truth is, Amar’e Stoudemire was neither athletic nor energetic enough to help out. Josh McRoberts was too passive and quirky to fit the offense, and Udonis Haslem has the heart to contribute in spurts but not the height or skill to consistently give the team exactly what they need.

So getting a backup presence in the middle would help to go along with the Miami kids of Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson and vet Joe Johnson, if they are inclined to bring him back in a spot other than his promised starting small forward role. There were simply too many instances of pundits echoing the usual second round sentiment of “Joe Johnson has got to get going.”

That position should be filled by a younger threat. Preferably a three-and-D player who can spread the floor for Wade to operate and to take over Deng’s defensive responsibilities — at least until Winslow develops a jump shot that other teams can respect.

Last but not least, is the two-year conundrum of can Goran Dragic and Wade work as a backcourt?

When Dragic is aggressive and able to run, the pair looks great. When he becomes the guy who defers, as if scared to demand the ball from Wade, they look like a duo that was forced together with no hopes of figuring it out.

It is a seesaw relationship that Pat Riley could look to break up by attempting to trade his point guard for free space to join the chase for a player like Mike Conley, who would be better suited in a half court offense as someone who can knock down a jump shot that was created off of someone else’s work.

Give it about a month and a half before any of these questions will be answered, but in the meantime enjoy the fact that the Heat dug out a pretty successful season.