The news is so fresh the buns are still warm:
Heat forward Udonis Haslem may miss the remainder of the regular season after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left foot, and free agent Erick Dampier has been signed to help fill the void that creates.
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Haslem ruptured the Lisfranc ligament in his foot, which connects arch bones to the ones leading to his toes. His recovery could take more than four months. The Heat may consider applying for an injury exception if the determination is that Haslem's season is over.
Haslem being done for the next 2 months is something that we can ignore and pretend it is not news. Haslem being done maybe for the season is a big deal. Haslem's skill set is not replicated anywhere on the roster for Miami; the best way I can describe him is a PF/C version of our 07/08 James Posey. Haslem doesn't score at an alarming clip, he doesn't get a ton of steals or blocks, and he's no highlight reel dunker.
What Haslem does do is contest every shot his man takes, defend the pick and roll better than any of Miami's big men, or any free agent big man not currently across an ocean, and rebound as a 6'8 guy about as well as any 6'10 guy. On top of that, he hits a mid-range shot with alarming consistency. If you replace the words "mid-range" with "3-pt" and "PF/C" with "SF", he IS James Posey for these Heat. He's their scrappy, non-egotistical enforcing role player.
This unfortunate happenstance officially makes Eddie House the 4th most important player on the Heat's roster. That's the truth.
I'm not saying that I feel bad for the Heat, because I don't. But unless they make a major roster move, this team has dropped from "contender" status, if they were ever there this season to begin with.