The Miami Heat got lots of grief last year for not having an effective big man on the roster, particularly after the team lost the Finals to the Dallas Mavericks and Tyson Chandler.

The Heat, currently fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 16-6 record, still aren’t happy with the big guys on its roster and ESPN reports that the team has made offers to 7-1 Joel Przybilla and 6-9 Kenyon Martin, both of whom “could make their decisions by the end of the week” as to where they want to spend the rest of the season.

Przybilla, who was the ninth overall pick back in the 2000 draft by the Houston Rockets, is deciding between the Chicago Bulls and Heat, his agent tells the site. Martin’s agent tells ESPN that his client has a few more teams than that as a possibilities.

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The New Orleans Hornets don’t want Chris Kaman around, but plenty of other teams do. After playing in 17 games for the Hornets, Kaman has missed the last five as the team tries to find a way to trade him.

The New Orleans Times Picayune reports that rumored destinations for him include the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, and San Antonio Spurs.

The Rockets are reportedly at the top of the heap with an offer that includes young players and draft picks, SI.com reports. The two young players that are being discussed, the paper notes, are center Hasheem Thabeet and power forward Jordan Hill, both of whom were in the top 10 picks of the 2009 draft.

Meanwhile, the Times Picayune reports that a Houston television station repotted Wednesday night that it was doubtful the Rockets would get a deal done for Kaman. The paper is hearing that the Indiana Pacers actually are leading the charge for Kaman’s services as it wants to find a backup for Roy Hibbert.

The 29-year-old seven-footer, who has a $14 million expiring contract, averaged 9.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game in his 17 appearances this season.

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The New Jersey Nets took on the Detroit Pistons Wednesday night with only eight players, including the just-signed Keith Bogans, and pulled off a 99-96 win.

Injuries and a virus kept Anthony Morrow, Johan Petro, Brook Lopez, Mehmet Okur, DeShawn Stevenson, Damion James, and MarShon Brooks out of the lineup for New Jersey. Morrow, who scored 28 points in the team’s loss to the Indiana Pacers Tuesday night, has a hurting ankle that he is hoping will be healed enough for him to be back in action on Friday against Minnesota Timberwolves, according to the Newark Star-Ledger.

Morrow, who is averaging 13.6 points per game this season, turned the ankle in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s game, the paper reports.

“Right then, I just tightened it up,” Morrow said, according to the Star-Ledger. “It was hurting, but I didn’t want to sit out. Today, it was hurting this morning it woke me up. I went and got treatment (and) it felt a little better. I started running around a little bit, it was still sore, uncomfortable.”

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The New York Knicks are more than a quarter of the way through their 66-game schedule and they’ve had to suffer through their 8-13 record without the help of point guard Baron Davis, who had back surgery in December but was expected to be in the lineup by now.

The word from Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni now is that Davis won’t be in the lineup till next week, the New York Post reports. “We all wanted things earlier,” D’Antoni said, according to the Post. “But we want when he comes back he could stay back and not risk the in-and-out and all that stuff.”

Davis sat out Monday’s practice because he was “too sore,” the paper reports, but he is expected to be practicing again Wednesday. “He hasn’t looked strong in scrimmages,” the paper reports and “D’Antoni said (Davis) hasn’t had ‘enough pop’” and needs “recovery time from scrimmages.”

The 32-year-old Davis, a two-time All-Star, split last season between the Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 13.1 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game.

The Knicks, expected to be a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference this season, are currently a game and a half out of playoff contention.

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Richard Hamilton has a deep thigh bruise and some “lingering left groin issues” that will continue to keep him out of the lineup for the Chicago Bulls, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The team plans to hold Hamilton out till he’s fully healthy since he missed eight games after playing on Jan. 4. He played Sunday against the Miami Heat and then skipped Monday’s game against the Washington Wizards.

“It’s frustrating, but I have to get healthy,” Hamilton said, according to the Trib.

The paper points out that forward Luol Deng, who has a torn ligament in his left wrist, may return to action before Hamilton since doctors are telling him he can’t make the injury worse and it is now simply about managing the pain.

Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said Deng will return soon, possibly as early as Thursday against the New York Knicks.

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Portland Trail Blazers small forward Nicolas Batum was “very scared” that he would be going the way of Greg Oden and Brandon Roy with a serious knee injury after watching the play in which he suffered his injury Monday night over and over, the Oregonian reports.

Bynum’s other fear, the paper points out, is that he wouldn’t be healthy enough to play for France in the Olympics this summer. “That was my main goal, my purpose,” Batum said, according to the paper. “I was thinking I’m going to miss the Olympics.”

But Bynum’s MRI Tuesday shows that he “does not have a serious injury,” according to the paper. What he does have is a bone contusion, the paper notes, which will keep him out of the team’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats Wednesday.

“I was so happy after that, ” Batum said, the Oregonian reports, and he plans to travel with the team Thursday to take on the Sacramento Kings (though it isn’t clear if he’ll be ready to play).

The 23-year-old is averaging 11.4 points and 4.1 rebounds per game this season.

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The now 7-13 Phoenix Suns got crushed by the Dallas Mavericks 122-99 on Monday night, partially due to hitting the floor without Steve Nash, who took “a knee to his left thigh on the final play of Saturday night’s win,” according to the Arizona Republic.

It is unclear if Nash, who is only seven assists away from breaking Kevin Johnson’s franchise record, will be ready to go for Wednesday’s game against the New Orleans Hornets.

“It’s very, very sore and a sharp pain, but it’s also very stiff,” Nash told the paper.

The 37-year-old seven-time All-Star, who has been league MVP twice, is averaging 14.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 9.9 assists per game this season.

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Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird has a year-to-year agreement with team owner Herb Simon, who has said Bird can stick around for as longs he wants. Just like last year, the NBA Hall of Famer isn’t exactly sure what he’s going to do this summer, according to the Indianapolis Star.

“People close to him say he constantly changes his mind on what he wants to do,” the paper reports.

“I will decide that in July,” the 55-year-old Bird said, the paper reports.

The current incarnation of the team that Bird has constructed is third in the Eastern Conference with a 12-5 record, behind only the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat.

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Much has been made of the list of teams that Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard, who can be a free agent this summer, has said that he would be open to joining: the Los Angeles Lakers, New Jersey Nets, and the reigning NBA champion Dallas Mavericks.

It appears that the 26-year-old five-time All-Star and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year is open to adding the Boston Celtics. After all, the Celtics will have a good deal of cash to throw around this summer when the contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen come off the books.

“I’d always listen to a team like that,” Howard told the Herald, because what he really wants is to win a title: “I want to win a championship, and it takes a certain type of team to win a championship,” Howard told the Herald. “You know, there’s a lot of teams who are great during the regular season. They play well, but it’s different once you play in those playoffs, you know?”

Of course, Howard might just win a championship with Orlando this season. Then what would he do?

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San Diego Chargers wide receiver Vincent Jackson is out on Hawaii this week getting ready for his second Pro Bowl. He’s been with the team since being selected in the second round of the 2005 draft out of Northern Colorado and would like to remain there for the long-term.

The word is that Chargers GM A.J. Smith is open to exploring that kind of deal, the site notes, and Jackson is happy to hear it. “There hasn’t been any communication as far as contracts go,” Jackson said, NFL.com reports. “If that’s their feeling, that’s great. I would like to stay in San Diego. Obviously, that’s my home, that’s where I was drafted. I’ve got some good guys around me Philip Rivers, (Antonio) Gates, Ryan Mathews. It would be a great place for me to stay, so we’ll see if that works out.”

He also told the site that he’d like to avoid having the franchise tag put on him again: “I’d love to have a long-term deal, just to have security of where you’re going to be for a while,” he told NFL.com. “That’s a decision that they have to make.”

Last season, Jackson had 1,106 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.

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