Friday's NBA waiver deadline is fast approaching, and the Miami Heat are looking to shore up its roster with an aging castoff willing to play for the minimum salary and a chance to win a title with the Big Three. Reports are circulating that the Heat could add Derek Fisher, Ronny Turiaf or JJ Hickson in the near future.
ESPN reported Tuesday that the Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder are the "clear frontrunners" to acquire Fisher, a point guard who has won five championships with the Lakers. After being traded to Houston from the LA Lakers last week, Fisher was released on Monday. Teams under the salary cap have 48 hours to claim Fisher. If he goes unclaimed, he will become a free agent. Chicago and San Antonio could also make a play for Fisher.
Similarly, F-C Ronny Turiaf was waived by the Denver Nuggets Sunday after being traded from Washington last week. Brian Windhorst of ESPN tweeted Monday night that the Heat and Boston Celtics are the likeliest landing spots for Turiaf, who will decide where he is going by Wednesday. Turiaf has not played since January 1 after fracturing his left hand.
JJ Hickson was bought out by the Sacramento Kings on Monday, making him another candidate for the Heat's power forward rotation along with Turiaf.
The Heat have allowed Mickell Gladness' 10-day contract to expire, leaving the team with one roster spot to fill. Under NBA rules, any player must be waived by Friday to be eligible to appear in the playoffs with another team.
It seems odd that the Heat would try to add Fisher, even if LeBron James said it would not be a bad move for the team to make. The team made a similar play last year, signing Mike Bibby after he was waived by the Wizards. But that was before the team drafted Norris Cole, and also before Mario Chalmers made some major strides in the 2011 playoffs. By the end of the NBA Finals, Bibby had become an afterthought in the Heat's rotation.
Fisher, for all intents and purposes, is a Bibby clone: slow and poor on defense who is a hot shooter all of a sudden. The Heat place such an emphasis on defense that throwing Fisher into the mix could actually make the team worse off.
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If the Heat had its druthers, it would be making a play for New Orleans center Chris Kaman. But since the NBA owns the Hornets at the moment, all 29 owners would have to agree to buy out his contract and make him a free agent. This seems highly unlikely: unless you own one of the handful of teams that wants Kaman, why cut him loose and allow the competition to improve?
Instead, the Heat could give Turiaf a shot. Though he is listed as a forward, he could play center behind Joel Anthony. Miami's current reserve centers, Dexter Pittman and Eddy Curry, have not exactly lit up the court in limited action. If the Heat were to face a team with a dominant center like Orlando in the playoffs, the current center rotation could struggle mightily.
But with the Celtics losing Jermaine O'Neal for the remainder of the year, Turiaf might opt for Boston, who can give him more significant playing time.
Regardless, all this maneuvering is for the 9th or 10th man on the court. The Heat will depend on the pieces already in place come playoff time. All this wrangling now is simply window dressing.
