But this is really simple in the long run.

Barring another serious injury, Tom Brady will be quarterbacking the Patriots for a while.

If the Dolphins hope to consistently compete, then Chad Henne must develop into a high-quality quarterback. Not Brady's level, necessarily, because the Dolphins can compensate in other areas. But reasonably close.

It's early, and he has very little around him, in terms of big-play threats.

But what you have liked, and not liked, so far?

Not much going against the Dolphins, other than a Patriots team that is rested coming off a bye, won't be taken by surprise after getting embarrassed in Gillette by Miami last season, and has an increasingly healthy Tom Brady.

Inactives and notes to come.

As the 2010 free agent list started taking shape and the league's salary cap space shrunk, I've made the case that there may not be much gold at the end of the rainbow. Most of the top players are likely to stay put, and that meant that Pat Riley might not find the right takers for all of his available cash.

Even so, I've also suggested one possibility here: that Riley knows something we don't.

And maybe he knows that he has better than a three-quarters court shot at LeBron James.

It's still hardly a layup, but the rumor is now making the national rounds. Marc Stein threw it out there. Last night, after the Cavs beat the Knicks, Chris Sheridan speculated about the same.

Would LeBron consider the Heat?

Well, consider this: 

-- He has said that he wants to play with a superstar. There aren't many of those around. One of them calls AmericanAirlines Arena his "house."

-- The Knicks were badly damaged by the salary cap shrinkage, which means they can't sign two stars unless both take less money. And I doubt Wade or James will find the Knicks all that attractive without the other, because there's not much redeeming on the current roster. 

-- If Wade and James want to play together, where would they rather go? Miami? Or Cleveland?

My question all along has been whether Wade would be content playing the Pippen role to LeBron's Jordan. (I know that Wade's game more resembles Jordan's than Pippen's, but the national attention would still focus on LeBron first.) 

But Wade might accept that if James was coming to him, down here.

If the Cavs don't win a title this year, when James is working with Shaq, then Wade would have the distinction of getting James over the top when they win it together.

Wali Jones's eyes were too.

So, at first, he didn't really believe his ears.

"I was surprised," Jones said Friday from the gym on the Army base. "I didn't think we were still going to do all of this."

Jones, a former NBA player who worked for the Miami Heat for 19 seasons until the team let him go last offseason, had been scheduled to run Saturday sessions as part of his Champions 4 Champions program. He assumed the visit would be canceled. He was told to board his flight.

"Even with all of this tragedy, they thought it would be really good to pick up the morale and get the kids pumped up," said Jones who, along with former NBA player Otis Birdsong, will work with 200 students Saturday morning and 200 in the afternoon.

Friday, he was preparing for his Wali Wonders segment for a Sports Inside and Out radio show that is broadcast to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As Jones spoke, the bouncing of basketballs could be heard behind him. 

"It's not on lockdown anymore," Jones said. "Soldiers are in here playing ball. You see soldiers at the hotel we are staying in. I mean, it's interesting. We have to support our troops. These young men are dying for us to be free, and to have this happen here is just horrific. I didn't mind coming at all. It is a privilege for me to be here. It really is."

What are they, specifically?

What does Sean Smith think he could be doing better?

"I should have picked that ball off and run for 100 yards, I could start with that," Smith said. "God! And then on the play when Braylon (Edwards) scored, it was supposed to be a bracket with me and the safety on him. But I kind of misplayed my leverage and pretty much didn't use my safety at all. I put myself in a bad position, where the ball shouldn't even have been thrown over there. The play we had, the call was perfect. I just had a mental lapse and I kind of put myself in a bad position. Small things like that, things that shouldn't happen."

That maybe when you're a third-year pro...

"Forget that! Next week! That's not even happening. I guarantee that isn't happening again."

I've been impressed from the start by the attitudes of the two rookie cornerbacks. And they clearly have talent.

What would you like to see both improve?

Bill Belichick certainly did.

Not surprisingly, Belichick gushed about Taylor on today's conference call.

As he spoke about all the things Taylor is doing for the Dolphins this season, you got the sense that he had thought long and hard about how Taylor would do those things -- and more -- for New England.

We never got to ask the follow-up question, because Belichick had limited time. But I can tell you that he made multiple personal pleas directly to Taylor this offseason, trying to convince him to come to New England. And yes, he would have received more money from the Patriots than the $1.4 million he got (including incentives) from the Dolphins.

Taylor wasn't lying when he said that a desire to come home -- to his family and first NFL organization -- was the primary reason when he passed on the Patriots.

Anyway, here's Belichick, still drooling: 

"They flip him around. Scooped up a fumble, ran that back for a touchdown. We've seen that a couple of times before around here. That was a familiar sight, one that I hope we don't see this weekend. He showed his great pass-rushing ability against Buffalo. A big rush there, a strip sack against New Orleans. He's shown what he's always had, which is great speed to the edge, speed to power, and a great inside move off his speed move. Those tackles, they worry about the edge, and he beats them on the up-and-under and speed to power. Plays the run well. He's very long, long arms. A guy that has great length, blockers have a hard time getting into, and he certainly knows how to use that to his advantage. It looks like he's still got a good burst off the edge and a good technique rusher. We hate to be playing against him twice a year."

Two questions:

Do you like the way the Dolphins have used Taylor this year?

Do you think he'd have even bigger numbers for New England?

Tonight was a bit of an anomaly, because the Heat was playing the unconventional Suns, and playing them without Daequan Cook.

But I'm hoping we don't see much of this group again:

Udonis Haslem, Dorell Wright, Quentin Richardson, Dwyane Wade, Mario Chalmers.

That was the group that was on the floor together with the Heat trailing 89-86 and 5:47 remaining, and the group that walked off the floor with a 104-96 loss.

Who wasn't playing?

-- Jermaine O'Neal. That was somewhat understandable, since O'Neal hadn't done much rebounding, and just didn't seem all that comfortable, whether because of his broken nose or the Suns' breakneck pace.

-- Michael Beasley. That was a bit more perplexing. Beasley had been limited because of foul trouble, but he had only four when he left for good.

I asked Erik Spoelstra about it after the game, and he said that he wanted Wright out there for more defensive athleticism.

OK. But the Heat had trouble creating any offense.

And this leads to the larger issue.

Beasley hasn't been on the floor at the end of the Heat's three reasonably close games this season.

What is it going to take?

Is this just a matchup thing, or does he still need to prove something to the coaching staff?

Last season, I was generally supportive of the way that the Heat handled Beasley, especially the first 50 games or so, when it was clear that he was clueless about too many critical aspects of the game. This season, though, I don't view him as a replaceable part, someone who should be swapped out based on the situation. He is the one guy on the team other than Wade who can get his own offense so long as he's aggressive, and the Heat needs that offense.

There will be times that Spoelstra needs to sit someone who is struggling, or just doesn't fit but, with all other things equal, this is the closing lineup I'd like to see:

O'Neal, Haslem, Beasley, Cook, Wade.

What would be your finishing five?

This Chris Chambers story isn't doing a lot for me, at least not in terms of its potential impact on this team.

Chambers is on waivers until 4 p.m. Then he would become a free agent, with the team that signs him no longer responsible for his current contract.  

Some (like my colleague Dave Hyde) don't think the Dolphins should waste their time or money on him.

Others (like my colleague Omar Kelly) look at the state of the Dolphins' receiving corps, and argue that this team needs to be aggressive if it has any hope to make the playoffs.

Where do I fall?

In the middle.

The money isn't my concern. The Dolphins are under the cap. Chambers is a free agent after the year. He would be a rental. And it's their money, not mine.

And I'm not really worried about how it might cut into the young players' playing time. Patrick Turner isn't getting on the field anyway. There will still be a role for Brian Hartline regardless.

I just wonder how much Chambers can help.

He knows the area and the facility and some of the Dolphins (even as the team has turned over since 2007), so he'll be comfortable in that sense. But he'll have to learn another new system, which is roughly the 321st of his career. He'll have to get on the same page with another quarterback.

Then there's the question of whether his skills have slipped. That's hard to say, though Norv Turner knows him very well, well enough to have traded a 2nd round pick to get him two years ago, and decided (in the heat of a playoff chase) that the Chargers could live without him. When the Dolphins played the Chargers earlier this year, Chambers was essentially the 6th target, behind three other receivers, Antonio Gates and Darren Sproles. The Chargers seemed to be using him on fades and little else.

He's had some personal issues over the past year, which you are free to find on Google. And it's certainly possible that they affected his play. Or that diminished production could just be a product of reaching the other side of 30. 

When the Dolphins brought in Jason Taylor this offseason, I predicted on this blog that he would finish with 10 to 12 sacks. He's right on pace. My feeling was that Taylor's 2008 trouble was a result of injuries and improper use. I thought he'd respond well to the change of scenery, with something to prove.

I wouldn't make the same sort of lofty prediction about Chambers.

So I say, sure, bring him in.

There's not much to lose.

The question is how much the Dolphins would actually gain.

But the Dolphins are alive.

They're 3-0 in the division, and now 4-0 in division road games (including that Toronto tilt) since Tony Sparano arrived. As I wrote tonight, next week's game in New England will say a lot about whether they're legit. 

So here's the playoff picture, just before the halfway point:

New England, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Denver lead their divisions, though Pittsburgh should still be considered a favorite in the AFC North.

Right now, Pittsburgh (5-2, 3-1 in AFC) and Houston (5-3, 4-2) would get the wild cards. The Dolphins get shots at both, at home, to close out the season.

Next? Baltimore (4-3, 4-2), San Diego (4-3, 4-3 with a win against Miami), and the Jets (4-4, 4-3 with two losses to Miami).

Then it's Miami (3-4, 3-2), Jacksonville (3-4, 2-2) and Buffalo (3-5, 1-4), and the Dolphins still play both on the road.

Is it likely?

No.

But at least they're in the mix, which is not something Oakland, Tennessee, Kansas City and Cleveland can say.

You can start as soon as it's posted, but I'll be on there for sure at 12:15 Sunday.

Will post inactives, notes, etc.