Shannon Brown, Kwame Brown to join Heat?

There soon could be a Brown in town for the Heat. Maybe two. Mark Bartelstein, who represents free agents Kwame Brown and Shannon Brown, said Tuesday night he has had in-depth discussions with Miami about both. The Heat desperately need a center, and Kwame Brown could fit the bill, having averaged 7.9 points and 6.8 rebounds for Charlotte last season. "We've talked to Miami quite a bit," Bartelstein said. "We're going through the process and hope to make a decision in the next few days Miami's a great team and a championship contender and he's got the potential (to help)." Bartelstein named Charlotte, Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia and Sacramento as other teams in the mix for Kwame Brown. Bartelstein said he's also talked to Heat president Pat Riley about Shannon Brown, a shooting guard who averaged 8.7 points last season for the Lakers. "We've talked about him with Pat," Bartelstein said of Shannon Brown, who was LeBron James' teammate in Cleveland from 2006 to 2008. "They're looking for wings. Teaming with LeBron and Dwyane (Wade) would be incredible. (Shannon Brown) is very athletic. They (the Heat) like him." Bartelstein declined to discuss contract needs regarding either player. The Heat, meanwhile, are trying to figure out how best to spend money in free agency, with players able to sign starting Friday. If the Heat waive swingman Mike Miller as part of the amnesty clause, Miami likely wouldn't be more than 4 million over the luxury-tax threshold and could have a 5 million mid-level exception and a 1.9 million bi-annual exception available. If Miller is retained, the Heat likely would be over the 4 million mark and would then have one 3 million exception available. Miller expressed confidence Tuesday that the Heat will keep him. If Miller stays, Kwame Brown obviously would be a bigger need than Shannon Brown. The only center the Heat are certain to have is returning starter Joel Anthony, who averaged 2.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.24 blocks last season. Kwame Brown has struggled after being the No. 1 pick in the 2001 draft. But last season was his highest-scoring since 2006-07 and his most rebounds since 2003-04. "He had a great season," Bartelstein said. "He had the chance to play a lot of minutes (26.0 average). He's a greatly misunderstood kid. People look at him as being the No. 1 pick in the draft, but that's in the past. If you just evaluate him as a starting center, he had a great season last year He's one of the best post defenders in the league and he's only 29 years old." The Heat's wish list at center includes Denver free agent Nene and Sacramento free agent Samuel Dalembert. But both will command much more than the Heat can pay, with Dalembert telling FOX Sports Florida on Monday it would be "tough" to go to Miami for the 5 million mid-level exception. Kwame Brown could end up being the best answer in the pivot for Miami. Chris Tomasson can be reached at christomasson@hotmail.com or on Twitter @christomasson