Out With The Old, In With the Old in Miami

An October 10th article from the Orlando Sentinel claims that the Magic are "way ahead" of the Miami Heat in roster continuity. However, despite their high-profile free-agent signings, the Heat, surprisingly, may have more roster continuity from 2009-10 to 2010-11 than nearly any other NBA team.

Consider the following 2009-10 players who are under contract for the new season:
Dwyane Wade
Udonis Haslem
Mario Chalmers
Carlos Arroyo
Shavlik Randolph
Jamaal Magloire
Joel Anthony
Kenny Hasbrouck
James Jones

New players feature (i) two second-round draft picks, Dexter Pittman and Da'Sean Butler; (ii)several value free-agent signings — Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Eddie House, Juwan Howard, and Mike Miller; and (iii) oh yeah, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

In addition, Coach Erik Spoelstra and team President Pat Riley remain in their posts.

To be fair, Hasbrouck and Randolph have non-guaranteed contracts, as do Pittman and Butler; two of those players will be cut in this month's training camp. However, if Hasbrouck and Randolph were to both make the team, a roster featuring 60% returning players is pretty good. No other top contender returns more than 10 players:

Lakers: Bryant, Fisher, Gasol, Bynum, Artest, Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Odom

Celtics: Rondo, Allen, Perkins, Pierce, Garnett, Robinson, Davis, Daniels

Magic: Nelson, Carter, Howard, Lewis, Pietrus, Bass, Anderson, Gortat, Williams, Redick

Spurs: Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Jefferson, Blair, McDyess, Bonner, Hill