Miami Heat News: Heat Will Be Miserable? Chris Bosh Is Not A Franchise Player, Deng Is Not LeBron! What's Next For The South Beach Franchise?

The Miami Heat could not find any sympathy from their former foes. After being unabashedly the most hated team in the NBA-and also being the most successful in the last four years, the departure of LeBron James brings the death sentence to any measure of success.

The Heat could not convince LeBron James to stay, and this itself is a telling sign. Pat Riley, who had the previous reputation of getting everything done, and Dwyane Wade, the team's only true stalwart, traveled to Las Vegas in what was supposed to be a last ditch effort to convince him to stay.

LeBron's conditions was to make the team a contender again. Riley's haul of Shabazz Napier, Josh McRoberts and the shell of former rival Danny Granger was not enough.

An eyewitness account of the Vegas meeting from Sheridan Hoops:

"The meeting lasted about an hour, and James and his advisors then met for dinner. James' stance did not change, according to the source, but no public pronouncements were made. An official announcement will eventually be made on www.lebronjames.com, as I first reported Tuesday. The news should become official before James leaves Saturday for the World Cup final in Brazil."

In the aftermath, Miami needed to sign Chris Bosh to the maximum to stop him from moving to Houston. It was a panic signing to say the least. When the offseason grades came out, Grantland gave Miami a fair passing grade, but it's mostly about salvaging pride than actual basketball reasons:

"Chris Bosh probably isn't good enough to be worth $23 million a year on the court, but keeping him at least allows the Heat to preserve some dignity in the short term, and maybe even some hope that they get back to chasing titles in a few years. Overypaying Bosh was smart, and had the added bonus of screwing the Rockets after Houston had been trying to screw them."

But the act might haunt them later on, and acquiring Luol Deng, who's small forward ranked fourth (after LeBron, Melo and the young Chandler Parsons) is still a big drop from where they were.

The point is, they built a supporting cast for a lead star who eventually ditched them-and they were not very gracious to the rest of the league, too: The final verdict:

"None of it makes this summer any less miserable for Miami, of course. Or enjoyable for everyone else. Every time a Heat fan tries to tell you how underrated the offseason has been, just remember all the Heat fans a month ago, telling you how crazy it was that anyone cared about LeBron's free agency. Also, remember Pat Riley's press conference. Also, remember Dwyane Wade's lecture to Kevin Durant. Remember everything.

In the end, this fair for everyone. Not a single person in Miami has any regrets about the way the last four years went down, and not a single person outside Miami has any regrets about the last four weeks."