Miami Heat Rumors: Marcus Thornton A Free Agent Target?

Miami Heat Rumors: With Joe Johnson already in the fold, could the Heat make another addition from the waiver wire with Marcus Thornto?

The Miami Heat have already dipped into the waived player market once this week. They signed Joe Johnson for the remainder of the season after he was bought out by the Brooklyn Nets earlier in the week. Could the Heat be making another move to sign a player waived recently?

According to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald, the Heat are showing interest in signing shooting guard Marcus Thornton, who was waived by the Houston Rockets.

Thornton was part of a deal with Donatas Motiejunas that would have landed the two with the Detroit Pistons. But, the deal was voided because Motiejunas was unable to pass the physical with his current back injury. Thornton never got back on the court for the Rockets after the failed trade, and he was eventually waived.

Thornton is in no rush to sign with a team according to HoopsRumors.com, as they said a signing was not imminent and that Thornton will have a number of teams to choose from. While the Heat have interest in Thornton, there are a couple of factors that may make it difficult for them to bring him aboard.

Luxury Tax

The Heat’s goal going into the trade deadline, which they succeeded at doing, was getting under the luxury tax. It has been a goal of theirs all season, as every trade they executed could be looked at as a salary dump. They made four trades on the season, and in each one they lowered their luxury tax number. By the time the NBA Trade deadline passed, the Heat were no longer a tax paying team.

But, could they become a tax paying team once again? With the signing of Johnson, the Heat could be back in the tax payer bracket. If that is the case, they could be more comfortable signing Thornton. If they believe that he can help them win games, and are already paying taxes, that should not deter them from signing him.

It will be a factor in the decision though, because the Heat may opt to skip of signing another player if the Johnson signing did not push them back over the threshold.

Playing Time

How much Thornton will see the court will probably be a deciding factor in where he decides to sign. Earlier in the season, Thornton was vocal about his displeasure in how he was being used. His minutes were up and down all season, so some consistency in playing time is something he will be looking for at his next stop.

The Heat may not be able to provide that. Despite all of the injuries they are having, the wing position is one that they are pretty set at. With Gerald Green, Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson already in place, and Johnson now coming aboard, the Heat have a crowded situation at shooting guard/small forward. Luol Deng could get minutes there again as well if Chris Bosh is able to return to the court, pushing Deng back to small forward.

The Heat would like to have some depth, which Thornton would help provide. But his role has a chance to be as sporadic with the Heat as it was with the Rockets, something he would probably like to avoid. But one thing he would help the Heat with is in three-point shooting.

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Thornton is a career 35.9 percent three-point shooter, and is making 33.8 percent this season. Despite being below his career norm, that would still improve the Heat, as they currently rank last in the NBA in three-point shooting, making only 31.8 percent of their shots from long range.