NBA Rumors: Miami Heat Are Best Fit for Kenyon Martin

Soon to be NBA free agent Kenyon Martin would be a perfect fit on the Miami Heat for the remainder of this season, and the South Beach club are one of five teams pursuing the former Denver Nuggets forward, according to ESPN's Chris Broussard.

The other teams interested in him are the New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs and Atlanta Hawks.

Martin is currently playing professional basketball in China for the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers, and won't be able to sign with an NBA club until his current team's season ends on February 16.

The Heat definitely need more depth at power forward, and with injuries to LeBron James and other frontcourt players this season, Miami will certainly be buyers in the free agent and trade markets.

Martin is a good fit on the Heat for two main reasons. One is he can defend well in the paint and has the toughness and size needed to grab rebounds. Second, he is searching for his first championship and will likely play motivated basketball for Miami to help them reach their title dreams.

The Heat are 19th in the league in rebounding, and even though that's not a terrible place to be right now, their rebounding needs to improve before the playoffs approach. The postseason is primarily a half-court game, which means rebounding at both ends of the floor is vital to your championship chances.

Martin would give Miami more rebounding and scoring ability than both Eddy Curry and Juan Howard would, and he isn't a liability at either end of the floor. Playing with the likes of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade may also help Martin because he won't have to the "the guy," meaning he can just focus on his role and not worry about carrying the team in any aspect.

Not only is Martin playing to win a championship, he is playing for his next contract, and at 34 years old it may be the last decent-sized deal he'll receive.

The only problem with Martin going to Miami is they can only pay him the veterans minimum, which is only $1.4 million. The Clippers and Knicks can offer him almost two times that amount, but the chance of him winning a title in Miami is far greater than the other four teams pursuing him. Martin won't win a title with the Knicks, Hawks, Clippers or Spurs this season if he signs with one of those teams.

Martin would certainly get decent playing time with the Heat, and he still has a good amount of skill to give at his age. Veteran players who are determined to win their first championship are the best free agent pickups teams can make before the playoffs arrive.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report, follow him on Twitter.

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