NBA Rumors: Miami Heat Should Take a Chance with Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas has cleared waivers and the Miami Heat should take a chance by signing the controversial shooting guard.

Miami is unsurprisingly on Arenas' list of preferred destinations, along with the Lakers, Knicks and whatever team Dwight Howard gets traded to.

The Heat would be smart to snatch him up before he goes to another contender.

Although his effectiveness is questionable, the Heat would have nothing to lose in this situation. He's going to be a cheap pickup and they are pretty thin in the backcourt.

Best case scenario is he thrives alongside LeBron and D-Wade, becoming a Jason Terry type scorer off the bench.

Worst case is he can't hit shots and they let him go in the offseason, just like they did with Mike Bibby.

Either way, no harm will be done.

Arenas was awful in Orlando, hitting just 34.4 percent of his shots in 49 games with the Magic. He only averaged 8.0 points, 3.2 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game in a Magic uniform, all of which were career lows.

Still, I refuse to believe that his skills just vanished. He's only 29-years-old and it wasn't long ago that he was dropping 25 points every night with ease.

He'll never return to superstar status, but all that talent is still inside him, waiting for the right situation to bring it out.

Miami might as well take a chance on Arenas. They already had the audacity to bring in Eddy Curry, so why not sign the artist formerly known as Agent Zero?

If it works out, he could help propel them to the title. If it doesn't, they cut their losses and move on.

It's a no-lose situation for the Heat.