Dwyane Wade appears poised for a return to the Miami Heat's lineup

When most teams lose their franchise player, it usually leads to more losses then wins. Fortunately for the Miami Heat, they have three guys on their roster that many teams would consider building their club around. That being the case, they have been able to not only survive without Dwyane Wade in the lineup, but still play at an elite level.

Miami has gone an impressive 8-1 with D-Wade on the shelf, allowing their star ample time to heal up after suffering a scary ankle sprain in a loss to the Nuggets earlier this month. There was finally some hope of a return on Tuesday when he accompanied the team on their road trip to Detroit.

Wade and the Heat would remain on the cautious side, though before the game Dwyane would go through a rigorous pregame workout and appeared to be ready to return. Odds are we'll see that familiar #3 on the floor for Miami either on Friday against the Knicks or Sunday against the Bulls. Both games are nationally televised. Obviously there are a few skeptical Heat fans because of their sparkling record without Wade, but those are few and far between.

Since D-Wade went down, the Heat has welcomed Mike Miller and Eddy Curry to the lineup. More then a quarter into the season, Miami is hovering around the top of the Eastern Conference despite dealing with serious injury problems. Hopefully from this point on that is a thing of the past as the Heat work towards their second NBA title, but first they will need to get Wade back in the lineup, which should happen in the next few days.