When it comes to the Miami Heat, they have two things they have to go up against the free agent market that sets the price for the remaining players and the drying up of the market as each player gets signed.

We are two days into the 2014 free agent period and there have been five wing/ perimeter players signed while two have offers on the table and one of the top free agents in Marcin Gortat has already signed.

Plenty of Heat fans were clamoring for Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry and some had a desire for Gortat to solidify the front court. Gortat re-signed with the Washington Wizards for five years and up to $60 million. Toronto re-signed Lowry for four years and $48 million. 

The Miami Heat fanbase has been spoiled, albeit a good kind of spoiling but now it’s time to play a different kind of game. The battle they face is the need for young talent, when the young talent wants to get paid. Of the five potential Heat targets in free agency, who have already signed, their average annual salary is about $6 million. 

This has to be incredibly frustrating for Pat Riley. But this is when Riley has to work his magic. He will have to back to the scrap bin. Showing up to the store with 10 bucks when everything in the store is at least 15 and you look at the clearance rack and you see a Vince Carter, a 36-year-old Shawn Marion, a former number one overall pick in Marvin Williams and a fellow 2003 draft classmate in Kirk Hinrich.

These are the players that the Heat will have to sign. While these moves do not look incredibly inspiring they do provide some intrigue. For the Miami Heat you have to look at this offseason unlike any other offseason. The team has $55 million in cap space, with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade likely to take pay cuts and all signs point to LeBron James re-signing with the Heat. This class of free agents will be better than the 2010 free agent class that brought in Carlos Arroyo, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mike Miller, and last but not least Eddie House. And that is a class that steamrolled through the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in six to the Dallas Mavericks.

It has been four years now and the team is in the same predicament, this time a James, Wade and Bosh are older. Battling against the open market with only ten bucks to spend. But this is something the Heat fans need to understand. It is very easy to not get excited over possible guys like Williams and Carter but as I said previously you have to look at this offseason and team through a different prism. You have the best player in the world alongside an aging but productive guard in Wade and power forward who has completely adjusted his game and could be the most important player on the team in Bosh. Those three players with acquisitions who have a specific skill set that fit the Heats style of play a fifth appearance to the NBA Finals is likely.

Here’s what we do know when it comes to the Miami Heat and their offseason priorities. Mums been the word but according to ESPNs Dan Lebatard the Heat did make an offer to Pacers guard Lance Stephenson but they were not in his price range. They do have interest in Luol Deng, but once again not for the price they are offering. And the top target that could fill the Shane Battier and Mike Miller roll on the team, Trevor Ariza is the top target for the team.

So when it comes to this NBA offseason, look at this period through a different set of eyes and know that when you have the best player in the world, the margin for error is a little smaller when it comes to signing and bringing in talent. It’s a good prism to look through.