Heat Work Out Nazr Mohammed

The Heat brought in 16-year veteran center Nazr Mohammed for an audition and a meeting with team executives Thursday, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The Heat would prefer to sign Emeka Okafor as they seek a backup big man, but he’s reportedly unlikely to sign with any team until midseason, as Jackson points out.

News about Mohammed, who’s four days shy of his 37th birthday, has been scarce this summer after a season in which he usually made no more than cameo appearances for the Bulls. He played in 80 of 82 regular season games this past year but averaged just 7.0 minutes per contest. Mohammed was nonetheless effective on the boards, grabbing 11.2 rebounds per 36 minutes, a rate better than in all but one season of his lengthy career. Chicago renounced its rights last month to the Excel Sports Management client, so the Bulls are limited to offering him no more than the minimum for this season, just like the Heat.

Mohammed appears to be one of several big men on the Heat’s radar. Miami has made preliminary inquiries about Andray Blatche and Jason Maxiell and has kept an eye on Ekpe Udoh, as Jackson reported a couple of weeks ago. The Heat have also been in the market for a shooting guard, at least before signing Shannon Brown last week, and while they’d “love” to re-sign Ray Allen, the Heat know the all-time leader in three-pointers made is unlikely to return to Miami, as Jackson writes. A report earlier this summer indicated that Allen has ruled out a return to the Heat.

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