ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported today that the Miami Heat are among five teams interested in signing free agent power forward Kenyon Martin. The Spurs, Clippers, Hawks and Knicks are also interested in signing the 11-year veteran, Broussard said. Martin signed a contract with the Chinese Basketball Association’s Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers during the lockout; the CBA allowed NBA players to join the league last summer, but mandated that they could not have opt-out clauses to return to the NBA once the lockout ended.

The former New Jersey Net and Denver Nugget left Xinjiang in December and can sign with an NBA team as soon as Xinjiang’s season ends, which could come as early as the Feb. 16 end to the regular season.

Broussard said that Martin wants to join a contender and have a sizeable role. But on the Heat, Martin wouldn’t play his natural position with Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem already at the power forward spot. The Heat would likely have to go small to get him any minutes, playing him with Bosh or Haslem. Martin is now 34 years old, coming off his worst season and expects to contribute on a team without the benefit of training camp or many practices in this shortened season. Forgive me if I’m skeptical.

Additionally, Martin and current Heat executive Alonzo Mourning had a strained relationship when the two were teammates in New Jersey. In one Nov. 2003 incident, Martin and then-teammate Richard Jefferson laughed at Mourning when the center suffering from a kidney ailment struggled to run sprints.

Perhaps the two have since buried the hatchet, and Martin may have matured since then. Perhaps Riley still remains dissatisfied with his center rotation and wants to bolster it with anyone still available. Dexter Pittman received playing time in Miami’s win over Cleveland Tuesday and Eddy Curry played in the Heat’s win over Detroit Wednesday, and neither offered much. Riley ran through this exact same situation last season, signing center Erick Dampier after Joel Anthony and Zydrunas Ilgauskas traded starting roles. Haslem's foot injury played a role in the signing, though.

ESPN’s Marc Stein and Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix tweeted about Miami’s interest in free agent center Joel Przybilla a month ago, and The Journal Times reported yesterday that Przybilla is leaning towards signing with Miami. Przybilla’s agent said that his client would probably not sign for a few more weeks. Przybilla is a natural center, unlike Martin, but injuries have robbed the 32-year-old of mobility and explosiveness.

During the Cavaliers vs. Heat game Tuesday night the NBATV panel of Chris Webber, Greg Anthony and former Heat guard Steve Smith gave a few of their opinions regarding some potential Miami Heat flaws – go figure. Anthony had this to say: "When you watch Miami, they play with arrogance. They feel like they can turn it on and off like a light switch and win a game whenever they want.” While the Heat have seemingly played lesser teams tighter this season than to their liking, one would be foolish to chalk it up to arrogance. Getting off to slow starts in Denver or Golden State may have more to do with fatigue and the opponent’s play than the Heat just feeling it can make up the difference later when they feel like it. While it is frustrating to see the Heat let the Detroit Pistons hang around until the last second, a lack of urgency seemingly would have little to do with the sub-par effort. Bottom line is the Heat has looked tired over the past week or so, and for good reason, they played four games in a five day span – following the dreaded “circus road trip”. Prior to that grueling portion of the schedule the Heat sat at 8-1, and few were questioning their sense of urgency or overall politeness.

Anthony -- seemingly this panel's Jon Barry -- brought up another issue: is the Heat’s lack of overall “team balance”. Anthony said, "When you have guys that can dominate the game like those three can, it doesn't allow other players to get into the flow of the game. It's important that they figure out balance." Anyone that has followed this Miami Heat team this season can tell you that it’s controlled chaos on offense most of the time. The two best wing players in the world and a power forward in Chris Bosh that has shown an extended range this season, his best and most productive with the Heat thus far, pilot that chaos. Mario Chalmers is having himself a career season, and his backup Norris Cole has contributed more than expected. Since Mike Miller has returned he has played his best basketball in a Heat uniform. Hell, even Joel Anthony has been getting touches lately. A common misnomer this season seems to be to trash the Heat's depth, when in reality they are a far cry from last year’s shallow team. This Heat team can play 10 players starter's minutes on any given night; that seems like pretty good balance to me. Calling this team top heavy, and all about the Big 3, is so 2010.

Thankfully, Chris Webber was the voice of reason on this night, saying, "They are so good and they will continue to be good. That's why I picked them to win the championship. Because when they get below the box, they are just so hard to stop." He speaks the truth, the Heat will “continue to be good”, but is their “good” good enough? No. They need to be great, to do the things this team promised itself when it was put together. This season is bound to have its ups and downs, ask the Oklahoma City Thunder about their loss to the Washington Wizards. GO ASK THE NEW YORK KNICKS! OK, bad example, they might just stink.

Anthony thinks “You need more than one glue guy. You have to have one in your starting lineup and a few on your team.” Not only do you need more than one glue guy, you need 15. The one championship this franchise has was based on that motto; any loose piece puts the entire structure at risk. It may be a shortened season, but hell if it isn’t still a long season. Last year’s Miami Heat team was playing their best basketball in the playoffs; this year’s Heat team should aim to do the same – even if they have to adjust to finding minutes for this Wade guy that returns soon enough. Hopefully they can overcome that.

 For a while there, it looked as though the Miami Heat (13-5) were going to squander a 10-point fourth quarter lead and fall to the lowly Detroit Pistons (4-15) Wednesday night. LeBron James, oft-maligned for his final period performances, wouldn't let that happen.

 James hit all six of his free throw attempts in the final 1:19 of the game, giving the Heat a come-from-behind 101-98 victory. He finished with another MVP-caliber performance, scoring 10 of his 32 points in the fourth while adding six rebounds and seven assists. Particularly encouraging was the fact that James, who struggled badly from the charity stripe during the Heat's winless west coast trip last week, hit 13 of his 14 free-throw attempts tonight. Head coach Erik Spoelstra said, "I like the fact that he got to the free-throw line and was aggressive down the stretch."

The Heat appeared to be on their way to an easy win when Mike Miller's tip-in off a James miss with seven minutes remaining gave Miami a 90-80 lead. Detroit went on a 12-0 run, though, capped by Brandon Knight's jumper with 3:15 left. Chris Bosh reeled off five straight points on assists from James to give Miami a 95-92 lead before Greg Monroe's three-point play tied it with 2:05 remaining. Jonas Jerebko's three-pointer at the 1:32 mark gave the Pistons a short-lived lead before James closed the game with his own 6-0 run.

Detroit got an unexpected breakout performance from Austin Daye (10-for-18, 29 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists), who entered the game having scored only 45 points this season. Daye hit 4 of his 8 three-point attempts despite entering the game shooting just 1-for-17 from beyond the arc.

Both Spoelstra and Miller attributed the Heat's road struggles to the taxing travel schedule that accompanies this lockout-condensed season. "Give (Detroit) credit," Spoelstra said, "Every time we got a double-digit lead they came storming right back. These are tough trips when you're getting in at 3:30-4 (a.m.)."

Bosh was extremely efficient, hitting 12 of his 15 shots and finishing with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists. He's shooting 60% (49-for-82) over the Heat's past five games. Spoelstra said, "He's gaining so much confidence, and we're feeling confident in him." Miami received solid play from their point guard duo as Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole combined for 25 points and 8 assists on 9-for-16 shooting.

Udonis Haslem and Shane Battier continued their season-long struggles, both failing to register a point in a combined 46 minutes of play. Eddy Curry was also ineffective, at one point missing an uncontested dunk in front of the basket.

The Heat will be back home Friday night as the struggling New York Knicks come to town. New York (7-11) fell 91-81 to the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday night and have lost seven of their last eight games. The Knicks, however, might have the services of point guard Baron Davis, who is expected to make his season debut shortly. The game tips off at 8 p.m. and can be seen on both SunSports and ESPN.

The Miami Heat once again looked lethargic and sloppy against a lesser opponent and the continued absence of Dwyane Wade has noticeably taken its toll on the offense. Mercifully, Chris Bosh was able to come through with yet another scintillating 30+ point performance (his fourth of the season) to overcome LeBron James' worst game of the season. The Heat's sharp free throw shooting helped tremendously, which could have also saved the day during the Heat's weak West coast road trip, because the team needed every single point to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers 92-85.

"It wasn't an altogether smoothly-played game but there in the end, regardless of how you get there, we were able to get a handful of stops and execute some half-court offense going down the stretch," explained coach Erik Spoelstra. "Finally in the last three or four minutes, the ball started to move and we were able to connect on either some open shots after some ball movement or draw some fouls."

Bosh's 17-point fourth quarter output, the most he's scored in the fourth since leaving the Toronto Raptors and the most from any Heat player this season, put his gifted offense repertoire on full display, with the power forward simply dazzling as he scored from every part of the court. The perimeter shooting was precise, he took his man off the dribble and attacked the basket, he couldn't miss from the free throw line (14-14) and he even threw in a high-arc three-pointer for good measure. He finished with 35 points (10-16 FG shooting) and 7 rebounds.

It was a good thing too because this was yet another night where the Heat, where they once looked unstoppable out of the gates weeks ago, looked very beatable against what should have been an easy foe. But the Cavs showed fight with Samardo Samuels and rookie sensation Kyrie Irving keeping their team close throughout the second half. Cleveland didn't exactly play too precise either and shot themselves in the foot with 22 turnovers, several of which proved costly down the stretch.

The Heat may have improved to 7-1 without Wade but they'll need their superstar back soon, with little else besides Bosh to feel good about on offense. Norris Cole finally broke through with 10 points on an efficient 5-8 shooting but apart from James' 18 points, no other player reached double figures. Shane Battier did little as a starter and Mike Miller, though active on the boards, has shied away from being aggressive with his shot - a bad habit carrying over from last season. Udonis Haslem chipped in 10 rebounds but his shot remains iffy. The Heat's outside shooting was so unreliable that Spoelstra elected to use Cole and Mario Chalmers in the backcourt along with UD and his two superstars while Battier, Miller and James Jones sat on the bench down the stretch. There was little movement off the ball as a team and James tried too hard against his old team and his ballhandling was oddly shaky, leading to several costly turnovers.

"We'll take it and now we have a quick turnaround on this back-to-back," said Spoelstra. "We'll probably get in late tonight and so our mindset is about doing whatever it takes to make sure we have the right energy and focus tomorrow night in Detroit." 

Norris Cole came bursting out the gate to start his career with the Miami Heat, but as of late things haven’t been so easy for the rookie. After exploding on the scene with double digit scoring efforts in five of his first seven games, Cole has only managed such an effort once since. Have teams figured out how to guard him? Has he hit the dreaded “rookie wall”? Both are possibilities, and it’s likely a combination of the two is the result in his dip in production. The fast start made Norris Cole a fan favorite, so many Heat fans seem to wonder when they can see more of that Cole on a constistent basis.

Cole is averaging 8.5 points a game on 40.2 percent shooting while hoisting up on average 8.4 shots a game. On a team with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh, the eight plus shots a game seems a bit surprisingly high for a rookie point guard. These numbers could lead some to believe Cole is playing too fast for his own good, but that would be a mistake because playing playing fast is exactly what the Miami Heat have asked of him from day one. Cole is asked to come in with the second team, and his explosion to the hoop is a big reason the Heat had such high interest in him in the Draft. What should be expected from Cole, is to bring down his 2.1 turnovers per game. While playing fast is part of Cole’s game, playing “smart” is a part of the Miami Heat’s game, and a blend of the two is needed to be successful. Cold streaks are to be expected, but bad decisions are not. 

Teams have obviously tried to inhibit Cole, slowing him down at times. After watching the rookie get into the lane with ease the first few games, teams have made conscious efforts to make sure he is quickly checked when handling the ball past mid court. Making Cole give up the ball, and play without it, has lead to him to more catch and shoot shots – something that has lead to his dip in field goal percentage. Adjustments are to be expected at this level, and Cole would be wise to make those changes - possibly making decisions with the ball sooner when bringing it up court. This would help to get the ball out of his hands faster - so he can receive it back deeper in the offensive set. It’s a given the Heat are beginning to see how teams are reacting to Cole, and will run more plays to offset what teams are doing to slow his game down – because they covet his speed with the second team.

It was easy to get spoiled with Cole at first, but all in all, what you have received from the rookie is outstanding. He has stepped right in and added depth to the roster. Possibly his best contribution has been that he has pushed Mario Chalmers so hard to the point that Chalmers is having a career campaign so far. Cole has brought speed at the point guard spot off the bench, something the Miami Heat haven’t had in years. His unpredictable play, and handle of the ball, makes others around him better – and the kinks will eventually work themselves out with dedication and film study. Growing pains were to be expected, now the rookie point guard must adjust to his opponents adjustments – and show he is ready to be a true professional.

Playing for the second time in fewer than 24 hours, the Miami Heat came out flat against the Milwaukee Bucks, suffering their fifth loss of the season, 91-82.

The Positives: LeBron James carried Miami during the first half, scoring 20 points before intermission. He finished with 28 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field and 12-of-13 shooting from the foul line, 13 rebounds and five rebounds.

Other than that, um, Eddy Curry survived a six-minute stint in the first quarter after Joel Anthony picked up two fouls.

The Negatives: The Heat played sloppily the whole way through, committing 22 turnovers against the Bucks. Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers were the main culprits; Bosh had a career-high eight cough-ups while Chalmers had six. Miami also shot just 37 percent from the field, rarely appearing in-sync offensively. The Heat had just nine assists as a team, a season low. With Dwyane Wade out, the Heat become more reliable on 3s, and it worked for the past three games. But James Jones, Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier all had off nights, and Mike Miller didn’t even attempt a 3.

With all of the bad play, the Heat still were within 83-80 with two minutes and 15 seconds left. But on Milwaukee’s ensuing possession, the Heat went to a zone defense. Ersan Ilyasova had a wide-open shot as the shot clock expired and bumped the lead up to five. And on the other end of the floor, Mike Miller made an ill-advised pass to Shane Battier that resulted in a turnover.

Although the Heat tied with Milwaukee in the rebounding battle 42-42, the Bucks got some key offensive boards. The Heat seemed a step slow to loose balls the entire night. The referees compounded the tough night, calling three technical fouls in a particularly brutal second quarter.

The Bottom Line: I’m willing to write this loss off as one of those “excusable letdowns in a condensed schedule” games. But Heat are in the midst of a four-game-in-five-nights stretch, and they can’t come out lackadaisically against Cleveland or Detroit in the coming days.

Let's get one thing out of the way before going any further: the Miami Heat are a better team with Dwyane Wade than without him. Pun-y hashtag aside, I'm the last person who would advance such an opinion. But tired media-driven narratives notwithstanding, Chris Bosh has been a more efficient player this year when Wade has been out of the lineup.

It's not surprising that Bosh averages about seven points per game more when Wade is wearing a suit. The opportunities are more plentiful and Bosh is the clear-cut no. 2 scoring option behind LeBron James. The fact that Bosh has been far more efficient in the games Wade has missed, however, does seem peculiar.


True shooting percentage (TS%) is an advanced offensive statistic which builds upon FG% by taking free throws and three-pointers into account. In the nine games the Heat have played with Bosh and Wade in the lineup, Bosh has a TS% of 53.8. With Wade out of the lineup, Bosh has posted a TS% of 61.8 (as a reference point, a TS% of 53.8 would rank 114th in the league, while 61.8 would be 22nd best).

Why has Bosh been a better player without Wade on the court? Admittedly, we're talking about a small sample size here. It could be an aberration. Or it may be that Bosh has a better feel for the game when he's playing a larger role. As I said before, Bosh's role is a lot more clearly defined when Wade is out. He doesn't have to second-guess himself (not that he ever should) for being aggressive. Further, James is simply a better passer than Wade. That's not an insult; James is arguably the best passer in the NBA. But with James controlling the ball almost exclusively, Bosh is more likely to receive a pass in position to score than if it was coming from Wade, who generally looks to score first.

Maybe Bosh's discrepancy in TS% with and without Wade doesn't mean anything. Maybe it does. Something to keep an eye on going forward, at least.

LeBron James and Chris Bosh more than held their own against the former playoff foe Philadelphia 76ers to compensate for an ailing Dwyane Wade, dominating the second half to give Miami a 113-92 win to improve to 11-4 on the season and tie the Orlando Magic for the second seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Positives: The Sixers proved in the competitive five-game series against the Heat last season that they keep making runs no matter what the scoreboard says. Miami answered every Sixers burst, the last one coming in the fourth quarter when James went to his post game, seemingly toying with whoever guarded him. The two-time MVP shot 12-of-17 from the floor to finish with 28 points to go along with nine rebounds, five steals and three blocks.

Bosh paced the Heat with 30 points on 11-of-19 shooting and a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line. The former Toronto Raptor mixed up his offensive game, making a nice hook shot after a drop step in the second quarter, nailing a 3 early in the game and even using his patented pump-fake to get a few trips to the line. Joel Anthony rekindled memories of his impressive performance against the Sixers in the playoffs with nine rebounds, three blocks and nine points. He even caught a football-style pass from James to lead a fast break and made two free throws after earning a trip to the line.

Starting point guard Mario Chalmers had 11 points and eight assists, but Miami’s bench contributed as well. Udonis Haslem had eight points and 10 boards, Mike Miller added eight points and six boards and Shane Battier added seven.

The Negatives: The Heat’s help-and-recover defense left the Sixers open for some 3-point shots. Lou Williams was the main beneficiary of that slow defense with four triples. After playing great defense on Kobe Bryant, Battier struggled against Evan Turner in the second quarter. Turner finished with 16 points.

The Bottom Line: The Heat have now held their last three opponents under 100 points. They are still sizzling offensively and beginning to become dominant on both ends of the court. The Heat players can’t rest on their laurels, though, because they play the Milwaukee Bucks tomorrow at 6 p.m.

Until this week, Mike Miller and Eddy Curry wore suits at the end of the Miami bench. They arrived here under vastly different circumstances, but are now essentially in the same place. Pat Riley offered Miller a contract that makes him the fourth-highest paid player on the team and tendered a non-guaranteed deal to Curry. But they both face the possibility of finding themselves off of the Heat roster if they do not show some productivity this season. In their limited action, they have given Riley reason to hope. As strange as it may seem, though, Curry may have a better chance of staying with the team than Miller does. Let me explain.

Dwyane Wade’s sprained ankle helped Miller receive playing time, and he made six 3s while offering his usual energetic play against the Spurs Tuesday night. Although he only made one long-distance shot against the Lakers – he only had two attempts from downtown – Miller continued his hustle play. But the Heat paid Miller $30 million over five seasons to become the fourth scoring option, not just to hustle. In his tenure with Miami, Miller has yet to score double-digit points in consecutive games.

Fellow Hot Hot Hoops writer Rob Smith recently expounded on the implications of the more punitive luxury tax system that will take effect during the 2013-14 season in a recent post. That year, the Big Three will make $56.67 million. Udonis Haslem, Shane Battier and Joel Anthony bring that number up to $68.08 million. The luxury tax threshold stands at $70 million this year, and the Heat would nearly reach it among six players. Smith said that Miller has about as good of a chance of staying on the Heat roster then as he does, and he’s right. If he can score 12-15 points off the bench consistently – a big question mark – Riley could have a tougher time deciding whether to use the amnesty clause on him, but Miller’s best realistic hope now is for Riley to opt against amnestying him before the 2012-13 season.

The Heat have always taken a long-term view with Curry. He made the 15-man roster after suffering an injury in training camp, proving that Riley didn’t want to discard him at the first sign of trouble. He played for the last few minutes of the first quarter and the opening minutes of the fourth quarter against the Lakers, earning an “Eddy!” chant in his productive stint. He can still score in the post, and having that option helps the Heat. He has instantly become the best offensive center the Heat have had over the last two years. As I mentioned earlier, Riley’s large financial commitment to the Big Three has left him to take low-cost risks elsewhere on the roster, like signing Curry or having the 28^th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft instantly become a rotation player. The Heat have options at Miller’s position in Shane Battier and James Jones. On the other hand, Dexter Pittman and Mickell Gladness are still unproven.

Even against the Lakers, Miami played Bosh and Haslem together, and we’ll see more of that in the future simply because they are better than any of the Heat’s centers. With Joel Anthony starting, Curry won’t be expected to play a lot. All he has to do is offer some offensive production in the post. If he continues to score effectively around the hoop – his polished, NBA-quality skill – he may re-sign with the Heat next year.

NBA owners have always handed out bad contracts to players after they have one good year (remember Tyson Chandler?), and Curry could conceivably demand more than the veteran’s minimum if he plays well this year. But Curry has voiced his appreciation for the opportunity this organization has given him. The Heat quite literally picked Curry off the street.

Both Curry and Miller played well in their first minutes of action this season. But the harsher luxury tax makes Miller’s contract an albatross. Teams can only use the amnesty clause once, and Miller makes more money than anyone on the roster outside of the Big Three. Curry has a long way to go before anyone can consider him a Heat mainstay. But simply because he isn’t expected to do as much as Miller and because he doesn’t have four years left on his contract, he has a better chance of staying here long-term than Miller does.

If you need more convincing, remember that Jamaal Magloire stayed with Miami for three years.

Playing a quality opponent for the second straight time without Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and the rest of the Miami Heat rose to the challenge. Miami cruised to a 98-87 win over the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that makes the Heat’s recent three-game losing streak seem like distant history, improving to 10-4 on the season.

The Positives: James played well despite suffering from flu-like symptoms Thursday night. He finished with an efficient 31 points on 12-of-27 shooting from the field, eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. The two-time MVP also had one of his signature chase-down blocks on Matt Barnes and later humiliated the 7-foot Andrew Bynum, rejecting a dunk attempt.

Although many billed this game as a LeBron vs. Kobe duel, the two seldom guarded each other. Shane Battier defended Bryant remarkably well, challenging him into tough shots. Bryant caught fire in a futile attempt to bring the Lakers all the way back from a 23-point deficit, but still shot just 8-of-21 from the field. Battier also made three 3s on offense. Chris Bosh had 15 points and eight boards, Mario Chalmers finished with 10 points and six assists and Udonis Haslem had eight points and eight boards. Mike Miller was much quieter in his second game of the season, but did play actively and make a 3-pointer.

Eddy Curry played in his first NBA game since December 2009 and showed that he could score in the post. He made a nice layup in the first quarter, scored a tip-in dunk and earned a trip to the foul line. With Dexter Pittman ill for now, it will be interesting to see if Curry can become Joel Anthony’s backup.

The Negatives: Curry was slow on defense, leaving power forwards open when Bosh or Haslem had to play pick-and-roll defense. Troy Murphy was 4-for-4 tonight thanks to pick-and-pops. In contrast, Anthony is quick enough to cover the open man. Bynum recorded 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 26 points and eight boards. The Heat did mostly defend Bynum with Anthony and Bosh, so perhaps Miami should feel good that the center didn’t score more points.

As alluded to earlier, the Lakers did get the lead down to 10, but the Heat never let it dip into single-digits. Bryant sometimes just makes those low-efficiency 3s.

The Bottom Line: The Heat looked surer of themselves Thursday night than they did when they blew leads to the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers. This team now has some momentum, and will host the Philadelphia 76ers Saturday night at 7:30.