Miami Heat: Top 6 Free Agent Signings of this Past Decade

3. Shane Battier

When everyone wanted Miami to get a big man in the 2011 offseason, they went the other way, going smaller by signing Shane Battier. With his mentality, approach to the game, work ethic, versatility, and skillset, it was a match made in heaven.

He did so much, that there is no real way to quantify his value. Plainly put, acquiring Battier turned out to be huge for Miami.

This turned out to be especially true in the playoffs, as he allowed the team to make sure Lebron James and Dwyane Wade had enough spacing on the floor. A good example of this concept at work is whenever Miami played the Indiana Pacers during those years with two bigs or a slow-footed Roy Hibbert having to get out to the perimeter, ultimately making lanes between the dual bigs or leaving the paint virtually open entirely.

As an offensive tool as well in the form of creating turnovers for easy fastbreak buckets, it also gave them the ability, defensively, to switch everything. Battier had his up and downs the playoffs at times, but when it mattered the most, he tended to deliver.

In example, in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, Battier was huge by hitting six three-pointers to help get that Miami Heat team the franchise’s third championship. Battier was also huge against Oklahoma City in that previous Finals as well. Throw in the fact that he was another good locker room guy that his teammates seemed to love and it made for another perfect Heat signing.