NBA Rumors: Miami Heat and the Best Destinations for Kenyon Martin
He's free! K-Mart is free!
From China, that is.
That's right, folks—Kenyon Martin has been given the go-ahead by FIBA, basketball's international governing body, to return to the NBA from his wayward excursion in the Far East. The All-Star forward, formerly of the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets, has no shortage of suitors beating down his door to land his signature, including the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks, among others.
But if K-Mart is truly keen on maximizing his playing time on a legitimate playoff contender, he'd be wise to lend his services to anyone of these three teams:
Miami Heat
Depth has been a problem for the Heat since Pat Riley gutted the roster to make room for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Granted, Miami doesn't need much outside of its Big Three to compete for an NBA title—at least if last year's team, which had Erick Dampier playing significant minutes, is any indication.
That being said, the Heat are still woefully thin up front and could use another quality forward like K-Mart to fill in.
Unless, of course, Erik Spoelstra is content to stick with Udonis Haslem as the team's only reserve big man worth his weight in salt. Surely, Martin wouldn't mind the opportunity to play a bit part on the prohibitive favorite to win the NBA title, even (and especially) if it means competing with Dexter Pittman, Juwan Howard and Eddy Curry for minutes.
Los Angeles Clippers
Now, if K-Mart isn't interested in slogging his way through the Eastern Conference, he may well take his talents out west to Los Angeles—to play for the Clippers.
It's somewhat uncomfortable (for Lakers fans, anyway) to think that the Clips might actually constitute a legitimate threat to win the Western Conference, though that much should be apparent from L.A.'s 112-100 beatdown of the "Best in the West" Oklahoma City Thunder.
Well, that, plus Blake Griffin is an absolute beast, and Chris Paul is rather enjoying his new digs.
And the fact that the Clippers have more shooters than you could ever hope to shake a stick at.
As good as the Clips have looked, though, it's clear that they could still use another big body, what with the chasm between Griffin/DeAndre Jordan and Reggie Evans/Solomon Jones being as wide as it is.
K-Mart wouldn't be able to bridge it all on his own, though he'd represent an excellent start in that regard.
Atlanta Hawks
On a team chock-full of 'tweeners, the one-position man is king.
Or, at least, that's how I think the saying goes.
In any case, the Hawks could use a big man of K-Mart's caliber to fill in for All-Star center Al Horford, who will be out until April with a shoulder injury.
And lest you think Atlanta can't make some noise when it matters, consider that the Hawks are currently tied for the second-best record in the East and have won a playoffs series in each of the last three seasons.
Atlanta may not be in the title conversation just yet, but it appears as though they've already started an all-important dialogue with Martin's agent.
