When Miami Heat center Zydrunas Ilgauskas exercised his player option for the 2011-2012 season, his return for one last season (his 14th), seemed like a done deal.

Now comes word that Big Z still might opt to retire instead of taxing his body with another year of the NBA grind.

"If I play [in 2011-2012], it will be in Miami," Ilgauskas told the Sun Sentinel. "Right now I'm just kind of on the fence."

What could push the 7'3" Lithuanian to the retirement side of the fence? For one, the wear and tear on his body, though he told the Sentinel, "I think the warm weather helped" his body stay fresh in 2011.

Big Z also has to deal with the fact that at 36, he is no longer the team's top choice to start at center. During the last two rounds of the Heat's Finals run, Ilgauskas was inactive for most games, and did not play a single minute even when he was active.

"It's hard for any player," he said of his benching in the playoffs. And with the Heat already carrying two young centers on its roster (Joel Anthony and Dexter Pittman) and possibly adding another in free agency after the lockout ends, Ilgauskas could find himself on the farthest end of the bench next year, in Eddie House territory.

Not that he's complaining. "The toughest thing was to lose," he said of the Heat's defeat at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals, not his benching.

He told the Sentinel opting in gives him some extra time to consider whether he will actually return to the Heat's bench. "I just want to keep my options open," he said.

But if the lockout results in canceling all or part of the 2011-2012 season, Ilgauskas may very well call it a career.

David Hill is a Miami native and the former owner of a youth replica Rony Seikaly jersey.