Miami Heat: Why Shane Battier Is a Good Fit for the Miami Heat

With talks resuming Monday, we can only hope that we can begin seeing NBA free agency moves rather than the same baseball highlight over and over again.

This year's free agency class can hardly hold a candle to the talent level that was possessed during the 2010 off season where Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Amar'e Stoudemire were the top names.

Whenever the organizations can begin interacting with players, the best talent they can look forward to is either Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Jamal Crawford or New Orleans Hornets swing man David West.

If teams want to begin picking up full-fledged superstars, they'll have to wait until 2012 where Chris Paul and Dwight Howard head up an impressive class of free agents that also includes Kevin Love, Ray Allen and Steve Nash.

In 2011, NBA teams have nothing but role playing specialists to look forward to. This is the ideal situation for teams like the Miami Heat and New York Knicks who are looking to build around a core group of players.

Miami is going to mainly be on the look out to fill their two most glaring holes at the center and point guard position.

As far as obtaining a point guard goes, the Heat are limited when looking for talent with T.J. Ford and Patrick Mills being the most affordable and solid options.

It's not too much of a concern considering the team will have Mario Chalmers running the point and the possibility of veterans in Eddie House and Mike Bibby returning, but it would greatly help the team if they can find a player capable of running an offense and hitting wide-open shots.

Not to mention that they also have Dwyane Wade and LeBron James who are both very well and capable of facilitating and leading an offense.

Finding the right center will be the main concern however with that being the largest weakness among the already strong team.

With 6'9" Joel Anthony being the current starter, it's obvious that the team could greatly use some help that isn't over 35 years old and isn't smaller than the average center by nearly three inches.

The team has plenty to choose from with stretches in Samuel Dalembert and DeAndre Jordan and desperation signings in Kwame Brown, Joel Przybilla and Aaron Gray.

Finding a center will be easy to come by for the Heat, and it still won't address every main concern. Obtaining a point guard and/or center, but it won't solve every problem by a long shot.

The Heat could still use a few more players to help address some key concerns.

For one, they need someone that can simply make an open shot. One of the biggest problems for the team last season was the supporting cast's inability to thrive off of the constant double teaming of Wade, James or Bosh.

Not one of the Heat's shooters shot above 44 percent with James Jones leading the way at 42 percent from the field overall and 43 percent from beyond the arc.

Mike Miller, Mike Bibby and Eddie House all faltered down the stretch and couldn't hit anything by the end of the season.

What the Heat need is a veteran leader who knows how to hit open shots and play fundamental basketball.

With attention being centered on the large amount of role players in this year's class, the Heat will need to make it quick if they want to sign the perfect player to fill that role in Memphis Grizzlies forward Shane Battier.

Battier spends the majority of his time playing small forward and being utilized as a team's main defensive stopper. He is a notoriously good defender and has been regarded as such for a number of years now.

He's fast enough to keep up with opposing shooting guards, strong enough to limit small forwards and smart enough to know the tendencies of an opposing player.

His famed hand in the face defense is one of the most difficult moves to pull off. When a player goes up for a jump shot, Battier somehow knows how to perfectly position his hand so that he can place in the shooters face during his shot.

It seems to work on everyone he defends aside from Kobe Bryant who only ignores it.

This would be a huge step up when it comes to a defensive presence off the bench, especially one that can play at shooting guard or small forward.

Currently, the Heat's only backups at the position are James Jones and Mike Miller who are mostly regarded as three-point shooters aside from Miller who is also recognized as a hustler and rebounder. Neither player even comes close to being regarded as a defensive specialist.

With Battier on the team, it only makes this team a lot more lethal on the defensive end of the floor.

James and Wade are already regarded as two of the best perimeter defenders in the league, and with Battier on the team, they'll have three as opposing shooting guards/small forwards will find driving or shooting one of the more difficult accomplishments to complete when playing the Heat.

It would never hurt to add another defensive body on the team, especially one of Battier's caliber who has been regarded as one of the top perimeter and one-on-one defenders in the NBA for quite awhile now. He could come cheap too if he's really adamant about going ring chasing as a 33-year-old.

Another positive coming from Battier is his ability to not be afraid when taking the big shot at the end of games or any time during the 48 minutes.

The Heat were challenged at the end of games on so many occasions because of the supporting cast's inability to hit a wide open shot. Bibby, Chalmers, House and even Jones all fell victim to losing their shot when it mattered most, and it drastically hurts the team as defenders then begin to lay off of the shooters and focus more of their attention on the big three.

Battier struggled in his time with Memphis and only shot 33 percent from beyond the arc, but he's a career 39 percent shooter from there and would get the easiest shots he's ever taken as a player in the NBA.

He's shot as well as 42 percent from beyond the arc, 2006-'07, and the 23 games he played with the Grizzlies last season was the lowest he ever shot.

It could be the fact that he was coming off the bench for only the second time in his career or that he was struggling to work his way into flow of the offense, but Battier still didn't play like he usually did last season.

At least he didn't lose any clutchness.

Having another veteran that can shoot when called upon doesn't hurt the team either. Eddie House was the only player outside of the big three to hit a three-pointer in the final seconds of a game as the other shooters came up short time after time.

By adding Battier to the occasion, the Heat just add another dimension to an already volatile offense as they can have him defending one of the best players on one side of the floor and hitting big shots on the other if he is needed.

The Heat will need to start making some moves and pulling the trigger quick if they want to obtain Battier since there is a chance that many teams will go after the veteran.

There are plenty of point guards and centers to go around, so it's a necessity that the team goes after Battier first and obtains some veteran leadership and defensive help off the bench.

For the right price, obtaining Battier would be one of the Heat's smarter moves since giving in and signing Erick Dampier.

Miami just needs to do it this before the season starts rather than midway through.