Heat Rumors: Ranking Steve Nash, Ray Allen and Other Mid-Level Exception Targets

The Miami Heat emerged from the 2011-2012 season as NBA champions, giving LeBron James and Chris Bosh their first rings as Dwyane Wade held up the Larry O'Brien Trophy for a second time. Now, they'll have to sign a few new players if they hope to repeat. 

Miami is going to have quite a few holes in the lineup next season if they don't make any moves. A combination of free agency and potential retirements could severely cripple the role-playing part of the roster. 

According to Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy, though, the Heat have a few intriguing options who could serve not only as replacements, but even upgrades: 

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Miami doesn’t have much money to spend, but they’ll attempt to lure a free agent with their mini mid-level exception, just as they were able to do with Shane Battier last summer. The HEAT are hoping to sign a veteran who is willing to take a pay cut in exchange for the opportunity to compete for a title. Miami is looking for a contributor who would prefer a ring to a large contract.

Steve Nash, Chris Kaman, Grant Hill, Andre Miller, Ray Allen and Jermaine O’Neal are among the players who Miami could target with their mini mid-level exception, according to sources close to the situation. Those players can likely make more money elsewhere, but may be willing to take less to join the HEAT.

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So, how do these players stack up on the Heat's roster? Which of the six would be the best fit? 

6. Grant Hill

Between LeBron James and Shane Battier, Miami doesn't really need much help at small forward. LeBron has the position on lockdown even if he does switch over to power forward quite a bit.

Adding a veteran like Grant Hill would be nice, but it's entirely unnecessary when upgrades at other positions are more needed.

Hill barely averaged over 10 points per game this past season while playing alongside Steve Nash. He's clearly on the decline and will turn 40 before the start of the 2012-2013 season.

5. Jermaine O'Neal

While the Heat need a true center on the roster for when they decide to play big, they can do much better than Jermaine O'Neal, who played so infrequently for the Boston Celtics last season that it was easy to forget he was even in the league. 

O'Neal played in only 25 games and averaged 5.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game on a career-low 43.3 percent shooting from the field. 

At 33 years old, O'Neal is just about as washed up as they get. I'm not sure that he could beat Eddy Curry or Dexter Pittman in one-on-one at this stage of his career. 

4. Andre Miller

Now we're getting to the players who the Miami Heat should actually be considering. 

Andre Miller has served admirably as a backup point guard for the last season, sitting behind Ty Lawson and running the shot efficiently when he got on the court. "Backup" is doing a disservice to Miller because he's still got more left in the tank. 

Despite playing less than 30 minutes per game for the Denver Nuggets, Miller still managed to average 9.7 points and 6.7 assists per game. He remains one of the best passers in all of basketball and maybe the absolute best at throwing alley-oop passes, something that LeBron and Wade would surely love. 

3. Steve Nash

This veteran point guard has still got a lot left to give to teams before he hangs it up. Steve Nash may have just put up his finest season yet, averaging 12.5 points and 10.7 assists per game with a 20.29 PER despite the lack of truly elite options that he's used to playing with. 

Nash is still one of the best in the game at distributing the ball and playing with three superstars like James, Wade and Bosh would be a dream come true, akin to playing a video game while using all the cheat codes in the book. 

The only reason that Nash isn't higher is because Mario Chalmers has proved to be a capable point guard and Nash's presence would hinder Chalmers' development.

There are still bigger needs than point guard. 

2. Chris Kaman

The Miami Heat have proven that they can play successfully when they go small, but it wouldn't hurt to finally have a capable seven-foot center. 

With the New Orleans Hornets, Chris Kaman averaged 13.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game while playing just under 30 minutes per contest. He's a solid defensive player and a great rebounder, even if the raw numbers don't necessarily attest to that. 

Kaman may have been offensively inefficient in the past, but he'd be much more selective with his shots in Miami after the downgrade to role-player status. 

 1. Ray Allen

While the all-time leader in three-pointers may have looked like a shell of his former self during the 2012 playoffs, he'll be better next season after having the torturous bone spurs removed from his aging ankles. 

After all, Ray Allen hasn't forgotten how to shoot the ball. He just had to do so in constant pain. 

The spot-up three-point shooting was the key for Miami in the Finals and it couldn't hurt to add one of the purest shooters in the game. Allen would provide a nice scoring punch off the bench and help space the floor while providing valuable time on the bench for Wade. 

Signing Allen isn't just the Heat's best option. It may even guarantee another title.