The Miami Heat need frontcourt depth. Not that they don’t have plenty already, it’s just that their big men are all so fragile. Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside are slated to start. Bosh is coming into next season fresh off getting surgery to repair multiple blood clots in his lungs. The backup bigs are also either aging or injury-prone such as Josh McRoberts’ Meniscus tear last season and Amar’e Stoudemire’s long injury list over his career. Chris Andersen is also still on the roster, who knows for how long, and you also don’t kknow how much he can produce in these latter stages of his career. Miami also cut ties with Michael Beasley so they could use an extra big man as an insurance policy.
Well, turns out the solution is on their roster, and has been for 12 long years. Udonis Haslem, 35, has been the epitome of Miami Heat basketball for the last decade-plus. And now, it appears Haslem isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Following from Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post:
“I feel pretty durable,” he said after his second straight season playing fewer than 1,000 minutes (after averaging 2,283 during his first seven seasons and playing fewer than 1,400 just once in his first 10). “I just make sure to keep myself ready and give myself a chance to play this game.
“I feel fine. I feel like I could go three or four more years depending on how Coach might need to use me or what the situation might be. When I was needed to go out there and play big minutes, I was able to put up some pretty decent numbers. If these guys need me, I’ve gotta make sure I stay ready.”
Haslem has been through it all with Miami, right there with Dwyane Wade as a “heat-lifer.” Haslem was still under contract for next season but no one expected him to be able to play up to four more years considering the wear and tear his body has endured during his NBA career. Haslem prides himself on his hustle, toughness, and interior play, a formula that usually leads to shorter careers. Sure he could be needed on the court in a pinch but his major contributions are going to be in the locker room, come playoff time.
The Miami Heat are starting to look like legitimate contenders just one year removed from the departure of LeBron James. You have to give Pat Riley credit, he’s done this again and again in his illustrious career. Locking up their starting backcourt in Goran Dragic and Wade gives them some stability. The frontcourt is solid talent-wise but flimsy injury-wise, needing as much depth as it can get. Having Haslem in tow for the next couple of years is an easy, decent solution.
