Report: Heat Shopping Mike Miller
MIAMI (CBS4) - The Miami Heat has been firing on all cylinders since early December, but that doesn't mean management is completely happy with the roster.
With the trade deadline coming Thursday, the Heat has been actively shopping swingman Mike Miller to any team with a decent center or point guard, according to ESPN.
But, the Heat hasn't found any takers.
The problems for moving Miller are fairly obvious: he's averaging 5.9 points per game and 5 rebounds, and he's owed more than $23 million over the next four years.
Miller was brought in to help alleviate the pressure on the Big Three to produce so many points each and every night. But, he's only topped 16 points once this season and has essentially been the lone black-eye on the Heat's offseason moves.
The Heat could try to make a run at Raymond Felton, who was just traded to the Nuggets. He's due $7.5 million over the next two years, which would be a little more than Miller's salary during that time.
They could also try to package Carlos Arroyo's one-year contract in with Miller as well to give someone depth at the point.
It's obvious to most fans that the center-by-committee approach with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Erick Dampier, and Joel Anthony isn't going to work with the Heat set to face Kendrick Perkins and Shaquille O'Neal of the Celtics; Dwight Howard with the Magic; and Joakim Noah and Kurt Thomas of the Bulls in the playoffs.
The only problem is there are just not a lot of big men of any value the Heat could acquire without moving Miller and another player. But, most of the one-year players the Heat signed have no-trade clauses which would likely keep them from being moved.
So, the Heat are likely to head towards the playoffs with the roster they have right now.
It will increase the pressure on the Big Three to have an even larger impact, but it will also increase the pressure on Mario Chalmers, James Jones, and Eddie House to bring their best game every night.
