Ray Allen Rumors: Miami Heat Must Land Superstar SG over Rashard Lewis

The Miami Heat are fresh off an NBA championship, but they did not get there by being complacent or making bad decisions.

In fact, there is a second banner hanging in AmericanAirlines Arena due to the organization making the shrewdest offseason signings in NBA history back in 2010 (LeBron James and Chris Bosh) and then following those up with some wise offseason moves in 2011, i.e. the acquisition of Shane Battier.

Now the Heat must continue to improve their roster in order to keep pace with improving teams around the league. The best way for them to do that this summer is by signing former nemesis and unrestricted free agent shooting guard Ray Allen.

The all-time leading three-point shooter in NBA history visited South Beach on Thursday night and talks are expected to continue into Friday morning as Pat Riley and company attempt to convince him to jump ship to the Heat.

However, according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge, the defending champs are also interested in acquiring recently bought-out veteran Rashard Lewis.

"

Veteran F Rashard Lewis, bought out by the Hornets after coming in Okafor/Ariza trade from D.C., will visit Miami this weekend, per source.

— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 5, 2012"

Lewis is one of the more disappointing players in the league and never lived up to a fraction of his six-year, $112 million contract that the Orlando Magic gave him back in 2007.

While 'Shard does have a nice shooting stroke for a 6’10”, 230-pound big man, he’s notably lazy and clearly doesn’t have the heart of a champion.

Once he was given that massive deal, Lewis rested on his laurels and does not deserve to sit back and collect paychecks from an elite team while hardly contributing.

Allen has shown time and time again that he’s a superior shooter and a much more reliable player who possesses better skills.

If the Heat are looking to win another championship in 2013, they must convince Ray Allen to sign rather than a washed-up and out-of-shape Rashard Lewis.