Miami Heat: How Ronny Turiaf Will Impact LeBron James' Quest for a Championship

Ronny Turiaf is the newest member of the Miami Heat. How much does he change the team's chances of getting to the next level, though?

I suppose the best thing that can be said about Turiaf is that he's not Eddy Curry. 

Then again, he's not not Eddy Curry, either. 

Compare their season stats. Laugh if you want. 

Player	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	PTS
Eddy Curry	3	3	6	1	0	1	6	14	14
Ronny Turiaf	1	11	12	5	6	3	6	7	6

On the one hand, Turiaf does have twice as many rebounds on the season. On the other hand, Curry has more than twice as many points. 

You can say that Turiaf would have better stats if he had more minutes, and maybe you'd be right. However, he wasn't getting minutes for the Washington Wizards, which should tell you something. His career has been in prolonged decline over the last four years. 

In 2008, he was a borderline relevant player for the Lakers when he averaged 12.7 points and 7.6 rebounds. Since then, his numbers—even his prorated numbers—have declined every year. 

Turiaf was cut from the second-to-worst team in the NBA. He's described as a "high energy" player, which is nice, but only if that energy actually goes into producing something. For a player with high energy and length at 6' 10", he's a shockingly poor rebounder with a total rebound percentage of just 12.2 percent over his career. 

It's not a great choice, but if you had to make it, you'd take Turiaf over Curry. However, that's because he's not as bad, not because he's better. That is to say, he might be able to stay on the court for one consecutive minute without drawing a foul. He's not going to be a difference maker, though. 

For the Heat to win a championship, the best inside presence they have is still LeBron James, who has really improved his low post presence. Turiaf might fill up some minutes and accidentally get a rebound or two, but he won't do much more than that.