Jan 30, 2013; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Wizards center Emeka Okafor (50) celebrates scoring during the first quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

NBA Rumors

We’re unofficially in day three of LeBron watch 2014. It’s only going to get worse from here.

Yesterday, we had to cruise through a false report that LeBron had enrolled his kids at a school in Ohio. Today, we have the luxury of combing through reports of who the Heat must target in order to keep this “dynasty” going forward.

And that means getting guys that can protect the rim for LeBron — guys that can defend, to a certain extent, without being much of a liability on the offensive end as Joel Anthony (moment of silence) was a couple years ago.

Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders has an idea of whom the Heat can (cheaply) target. He believes Milwaukee Bucks’ big man Ekpe Udoh, Phoenix Suns’ center Channing Frye and Phoenix Suns’ big man Emeka Okafor could be good fits with the Heat.

Finding a useful big man is harder. Ekpe Udoh could be an option as a restricted free agent, a mobile big who could execute Miami’s traps well and has usually played better than his box score stats. Channing Frye or Emeka Okafor (if healthy) could be other frontcourt options. But frankly, there is not a ton out there. If Miami could figure out a way to acquire Carmelo while staying over the cap, that would be the best option, but otherwise they are going to have major problems on D because of the inability to get anyone else.

But quality big men aren’t at a premium in the NBA anymore; they’re almost a rarity nowadays. However, the Heat essentially just need to add a couple of healthy bodies. No offense to Udonis Halsem and Greg Oden, but they weren’t exactly “weapons” off that Heat bench. Apart from Chris Andersen, the Heat didn’t have any size to turn to off the bench. Udoh and Okafor aren’t going to change the dynamics of this Heat team, but at least they can contribute something. These are the types of players that the Heat need to target. At this point, I really think LeBron would take almost anyone that has size and can still move.

They’re options. Not sure if they’re good or bad ones, but at this point that’s all Miami needs. Options.

And they have a few this offseason.