How do the Miami Heat replace the injured Willie Reed?

Willie Reed went down with a right calf strain during the Miami Heat’s win over the Indiana Pacers. What are the team’s options now for finding a backup center?

Update, Feb. 26: The Miami Heat have ruled out Willie Reed for Monday’s game vs the Dallas Mavericks because of bursitis. He is listed as day-to-day. Continue reading for the Heat’s options to replace him.

In the the Miami Heat’s blowout win over the Indiana Pacers, center Willie Reed went down with what the team is calling a right calf strain that will be reevaluated Sunday, the team announced.

It’s unclear when the injury happened, but Reed was seen grasping at his leg on a fourth-quarter defensive possession. After competing for rebound, Johnson bent over and leaned on teammate James Johnson for support before eventually falling to the floor. He was taken off on a stretcher-wheelchair thing and did not return to the game.

Depending on how long Reed is out, this could potentially suck really hard for the Heat.

Reed is Miami’s backup center for Hassan Whiteside, giving the team 48 minutes per game of rim protection and rebounding. It’s central to the Heat’s defense, which thrives on running opponents off the three-point line and toward their rim protectors in the paint.

Without Reed, the Heat will have to rely on the 36-year-old Udonis Haslem, who has played just 28 total minutes since Jan. 5. Unless they make a move.

The Heat for a while were working with a 16th roster spot due to a hardship exception granted by the NBA. However, that exception went away when Josh Richardson returned from an injury after the All-Star break.

The hardship exception, as explained by CBA expert Larry Coon:

"A hardship can be deemed to exist when a team has four players who are sick or injured and have missed at least three regular season games, and will continue to be unable to play. If a hardship is granted, the hardship ends when one of the sick or injured players is physically able to resume playing. The team must then release player(s) to get back to the roster limit, although teams have the option to retain the hardship player and release a different player to get back to the limit."

The Heat could potentially get that exception back, however Reed would have to first miss three games, then be ruled out for an additional two weeks. That could amount to 10 games in total without a key rotation piece. For a team in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt, every game counts, and losing Reed for that long should only be an option if absolutely necessary.

The other option is for the Heat to expedite the process of removing Chris Bosh from the roster. The Heat are expected to waive Bosh after March 1, removing both him and his contract from the salary cap.

The Heat, however, have been able to waive Bosh since Feb. 9, but had been waiting to do so to make sure that Bosh could not potentially play in the playoffs for another team (players waived after March 1 cannot participate in the playoffs, due to league rules).

But Bosh, who recently agreed to join the TNT crew for the next five weeks, isn’t planning on playing this season. That should curb the risk for waiving Bosh before March 1.

If the Heat decide to move forward with clearing a 15th roster spot, they’ll be able to sign another player for the balance of the season.

There are some buyout options who could the help the Heat right now, including Terrence Jones and Jared Sullinger. Both of them are power forwards and could play some center behind Whiteside as Reed recovers.

Next: Tyler Johnson has found his groove again

Miami’s next game is Monday, at Dallas. For a team just a couple of games out of the eighth seed, they don’t want to lose their momentum now. It’s possible this is just a minor injury for Reed that doesn’t cause a domino effect, but if his injury doesn’t look good, the Heat will have to move fast.