Dwyane Wade said Sunday that the path to 2015-16 success for the Miami Heat might have to be that the whole is less than the sum of its parts.

As the Heat prepared for Wednesday season opener against the Charlotte Hornets at AmericanAirlines Arena, Wade cautioned against judging the team based on the individual achievements of the starting lineup of himself, Goran Dragic, Chris Bosh, Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside.

"We have to learn to share the game together as a unit," he said. "We've got a lot of scorers on this team and we have a lot of playmakers, so we have to make plays for each other, and move the ball around, and get spacing for each other, to make the game easier for one another.

"And the only thing that scares me about it is that we've got a lot of guys who are offensively minded, especially in that first unit. There's not a lot of role players in that first unit. So sometimes you look at it and say that first unit is talented, 'Over the years this guy averaged this, this, this and this.' But that could be bad thing, too, because maybe there's no one willing to sacrifice."

Wade said it's a decidedly more difficult proposition than with a second unit that has revolved around the scoring of Gerald Green.

"The next unit is easy: Find Gerald," Wade said with a laugh. "You ain't got to worry about, 'Chris need it, Dwyane need it, Lu need it, Hassan need it.' No, Gerald needs it."

As for the first unit, Wade said it remains a work in progress.

"We've got the talent, now we've got to learn how to play together with the talent that we have," he said. "I think the biggest thing is all of us individually understand that we don't need to be who we were independently of each other. We've got to find our new identity as a group together. That's the hardest part about winning teams."

Roster resolved

Coach Erik Spoelstra said he was confident moving forward with the 15 players who survived Saturday's roster cuts, while also eager to see those waived potentially move on to the Heat's NBA Development League affiliate.

A look at the Heat roster, with salary status and how each player might contribute this season. (Ira Winderman) (Ira Winderman)

"Really, we made no changes," he said. "But we were able to develop, hopefully, some guys and transition them to the Sioux Falls program. That's where this developmental program really is becoming effective. They've had six weeks of work in our system. Hopefully we can transition all of 'em. We'll find out in the next few days.

"John Lucas was a tough cut. He might end up going to Sioux Falls. But we love John."

Among the adjustments made Saturday was modifying the guarantee on the contract of forward James Ennis, with 37 percent of his 2015-16 salary now guaranteed.

"His approach in the last six weeks has been great," Spoelstra said of Ennis' work before and during the preseason.

Ennis sat out most of Sunday's practice with a dislocated finger but said he would return Monday.

Of working with a restructured guarantee, Ennis said, "I've still got the same mindset, just continue to work hard every day, come with a positive attitude and just try to get better. Nothing's promised in life, so that's how I look at it."

In addition to Ennis' terms, guard Tyler Johnson will have his contract fully guaranteed for the season on opening night, becoming the 14th of the 15 players on the roster to have such security.

Dragic back

Dragic was back at practice after missing Thursday's practice and then Friday's exhibition finale in New Orleans due to an illness, with the team off Saturday.

"The headache, the throat and the aching is all gone. I sweated it all out," he said. "Today I thought was going to be hard for me, but I feel great."

Amar'e Stoudemire, who was held out of Friday's exhibition, also was held out of Sunday's practice, as the Heat remain cautious with his surgical knees.

winderman@tribpub.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman