1. Blake Griffin
The Los Angeles Clippers 4-man is a beast. You don’t need me to rattle off his stats to know that. Griffin can score, pass, rebound and defend at high levels.
He still hasn’t become much of a three-point shooter (30.8 percent from deep this year on 1.4 attempts per game), but that hasn’t stopped the Clippers from currently boasting a 40-27 record.
Do I think Griffin turns down the massive money he’s set to receive from Los Angeles this offseason, to join a team he has zero familiarity with? No, I absolutely do not.
The best we can hope for is he takes meetings with potential suitors — like Kevin Durant did — and Riley can coax him into making the move to South Florida. It’s a stretch, but crazier things have happened.
Apart from the five guys I listed, there are other lesser options out there, as well. There’s Patrick Patterson of the Raptors, Amir Johnson of the Boston Celtics and Zach Randolph of the Memphis Grizzlies due to his free agency.
Next: Here are the bets lineups of the season for the Heat
No matter what does end up happening, you can be certain of one thing: Miami will have a new starting power forward next year. It’s just a matter of time. Thankfully, Babbitt has made the wait more tolerable with his flame-throwing heaves from deep.