The news comes less than a week after the team allowed the 10-day contracts of Varnado and Josh Harrellson to expire. The team was impressed enough with Varnado in his limited time to give him a chance, but weren’t willing to do the same with their shooting big man. Harrellson played in one instance under the deal, recording a missed field-goal and a turnover in three minutes against Sacramento.

Meanwhile, Varnado ended up playing some heavy garbage-time minutes with the Heat resting the ‘Big Three’ in the fourth quarters of two games on their road trip. As a result, Jarvis was given some playing time and would make the most of it. In six minutes against the Kings, Varnado recorded his first ever field-goal on a short-hook while also recording his first block. The six minutes he had against Golden State were a little less uneventful, as he recorded three fouls and a turnover to accompany a block.

Varnado failed to bring down a single rebound in either of those contests. Miami feels that the ‘Birdman’ may be a temporary answer to their rebounding woes.

The 6’10″ Andersen worked out for the Heat during their six-game road trip, but not until now has he reached a deal. It’s the first time Andersen has signed with an NBA team this year, and is following up a 2011-’12 campaign where he played only 32 games for the Denver Nuggets before being waived mid-July.

Andersen is averaging 5.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per for his career.

The Heat don’t play again until a Wednesday matchup with Toronto.

While Chris Andersen worked out today at the American Airlines Arena, league sources indicate that the Miami Heat are close to signing shot-blocking stalwart Jarvis Varnado to a 10-day contract.

Varnado, a 6’9″ power forward, is a familiar name in the Miami community. He was selected by the Heat with the 41st pick of the 2010 NBA draft, but never saw any sort of playing time. Since being drafted, he has played overseas with two separate stints in Italy and one in Israel. The past few months, however, have been a blessed one for Varnado as he has finally made his way to playing professional basketball in the United States.

He earned his first ever workout with the Heat going into the 2012-’13 season, but was waived due to an injury keeping him out of the running for one of the team’s final two roster spots. He would play with the Sioux Falls SkyForce, where he would average 14 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.4 blocks per in eight games, before earning a contract with the Boston Celtics.

He would be featured in five games and was mostly subjected to garbage-time minutes. He recorded six points, three rebounds and an assist before he would be waived not even two weeks after being signed. Four of the six points he scored came in less than a minute against Sacramento when he made his two field-goal attempts. They would be the only field-goals he’d make in his stint.

Varnado was selected by the Heat as a result of the records he set in his time with Mississippi State. Known for his incredible length, Varnado became the all-time leader in blocked shots in Division I history after racking up 564 blocks in 141 games. He is also one of only two college players, the other being David Robinson, to record 1000 points, 1000 rebounds, and 500 blocks in a collegiate career.

He averaged 13.8 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per in his senior season with the Bulldogs.

Jarvis recorded at least two blocks in every D-League game he played in, recording as many as eight in 35 minutes. Perhaps even more impressive was the 11 points, 14 rebounds and 6 blocks he had the game before that, needing only 25 minutes to do so. He finished his D-League stint off with an 18-point, 12-rebound, and 6-block outing.