It is great to have a Ferrari, a Bentley and a Corvette Z06 in the garage, which I say purely as a hypothetical, alas. They bring the thrills. They are built to impress.

Sometimes you might need that old reliable pickup truck, too, though — and all the more so if your garage is otherwise filled with exotic luxury.

Sleek and sexy are fine, but sometimes you need something to get off-road and do the heavy lifting. Something to uproot that stump or carry that palette of mulch. Something not afraid of the mud.

For the Heat, the luxury vehicles do business as the Big 3, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Those are the high-powered sports stars.

The dirty work? Enter Udonis Haslem.

There are plenty of reasons the Heat should be better in Year 2 of this new era, why the betting odds call Miami a favorite to win the NBA championship.

One is that the Big 3 should be better, more in tune and cohesive with one another after a year’s experience playing together, not to mention James expanding his game with more of a low-post presence.

Another reason looks to be two key additions to fill bench roles in defense-minded veteran Shane Battier and promising drafted rookie point guard Norris Cole.

The biggest difference and greatest improvement, though, figures to be the full return from injury of Haslem, the blue-collar heartbeat of this team.

Dirty work

The paparazzi and magazine covers and fans’ eyes will continue to find LeBron and D-Wade. Their alley-oop slam dunks are the team’s signature must-see, and they are why the franchise has a South Beach celebrity vibe.

Yes, but over there, where you aren’t looking, that’s Haslem diving for a deflected basketball, out-muscling bigger men on the boards, leading the team in wood burns. Boxscores and statistics rarely do him justice, but his nearly indispensable value only grew in his absence last season.

On Tuesday, I began a post-practice conversation with Haslem by starting a sentence, “So many people take good health for granted until they don’t have it …”

He wouldn’t let me finish.

“Trust me. I know,” he said with a small smile.

Haslem sustained a ruptured ligament in his left foot 13 games into last season and missed the final 69 regular-season games and the start of the playoffs. He returned to finish the playoff run, valiantly but prematurely, not fully ready. Adrenaline could not overcome his rust and lingering injury.

“Played on one foot,” as Wade said this week.

To this day, I believe Miami might have been able to overcome James’ disappointing NBA Finals in the six-game loss to Dallas had Haslem been 100 percent.

Now the player teammates call U.D. is back to being himself. He wasn’t certain he ever would be. For a player aged 31, entering his ninth NBA season, this was a major injury from which to recover.

“At times last season I was in that place where I wasn’t sure if I would ever be the same player again,” he said.

But now?

“Huge difference. All the difference,” he said. “I feel quicker, more explosive, more confident. I feel like I’m back.”

A fresh start

The Miami native’s familiar braids are gone, his hair grown out. New look. Fresh start. And no players more than the Big 3 are eager to see a full season of Haslem and more appreciative of the rugged skills the 6-8 forward brings — because those things allow the stars to shine.