The agent for unsigned swingman Latrell Sprewell called Heat GM Randy Pfund and reiterated Sprewell would like to play here. 'Randy said, `Let's keep in touch,' '' agent Robert Gist said. The Heat has shown no interest in Sprewell or ex-Heat SF Qyntel Woods, cut by Boston.

With James Posey out indefinitely with a right thumb injury, Heat coach Stan Van Gundy said Saturday he is leaning toward starting Antoine Walker at small forward in Wednesday's opener at Memphis.

Posey, who sprained his thumb Oct. 22 against Detroit, will wear a cast for another week before switching to a splint. Although he should be able to play with a splint, Posey said he has no timetable for a return.

''I'm not going to rush anything,'' he said after teammates practiced at AmericanAirlines Arena. ``I tried that last season [with different injuries], and it just set me back even worse.''

Walker, who usually plays power forward, was effective at small forward against Orlando on Thursday. ''Antoine in the lineup at the three worked very well for us, especially on the offensive end,'' Dwyane Wade said. ``And he did a good job defensively.''

Miami Heat owner Micky Arison was elected chairman of the NBA's Board of Governors on Wednesday, replacing Phoenix Suns CEO Jerry Colangelo.

"I'm looking forward to an interesting period," Arison said. "We have a lot of opportunities obviously for the league and a lot of challenges, and I look forward to working with the league office to help in any way I can."

Colangelo, who served two two-year terms as chairman, will continue to serve as the Suns' representative on the board and as a member of committees for finance, long-range planning, collective bargaining and player relations. He voluntarily stepped down as chairman to give someone else a chance at the job.

Arison is the chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation, the cruise ship company. He took control of the Heat in 1995 and has overseen moves such as the hiring of Pat Riley and the acquisition of Shaquille O'Neal, helping Miami grow into a team considered one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference this season.

"It's great when you have somebody like Micky as a sounding board for the decisions, the directions and the processes," commissioner David Stern said. "There's television negotiations that will be coming up, there's global expansion, there are technology decisions that need to be addressed.

"These ultimately will be decisions for the most part for the whole board, but as you get them ready it's great to have a chairman who both is available as a sounding board and brings the business acumen that Micky brings."

Small forward James Posey, a cornerstone of the Heat's revamped roster, likely will be sidelined for the start of the season.

Injured late in Saturday's exhibition loss to Detroit when his right thumb snapped backward, Posey will wear a removable cast for two weeks.

X-rays were taken Saturday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills, as was an MRI conducted Sunday after Posey returned to South Florida with trainer Ron Culp. Posey is being listed with a sprain.

The removable cast will allow the seventh-year forward to practice but keep him from games.

After four exhibition games, it sounds like Heat coach Stan Van Gundy is leaning toward keeping Antoine Walker as a sixth man.

Walker playing a reserve role has been suggested and implied since the Heat acquired him in August, but Van Gundy spoke in depth about the idea for the first time Wednesday.

Through four exhibition games, Walker is averaging 12.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 22.5 minutes. Not only does Van Gundy like the options Walker gives him coming off the bench, but it's a role that would allow Walker, a 19.8 career scorer, more scoring chances.

''I think the one thing that, hopefully, he's seeing is that when he comes in the game we're going to him,'' Van Gundy said.

``I'm not saying he can't start or he can't play with those other guys, but it's easier to go to him when he's coming in off the bench.''

Winning and losing is practically irrelevant now to the Miami Heat, because the slates get wiped clean when the regular season starts in about two weeks.

Still, there's a tangible sense of urgency coming from Heat coach Stan Van Gundy these days - not based on his team's 1-2 preseason record, but stemming from the high-turnover, offensively troubled brand of basketball the club has displayed in those exhibitions.

The Heat are averaging 22.7 turnovers per game in the preseason, which continues on Tuesday night at home against the Orlando Magic. Miami is shooting 31.7 percent from 3-point range, 61.9 percent from the foul line, and the Heat are playing far from the level Van Gundy would prefer to see two weeks into training camp.

"What we have is a lot of guys capable of making plays," Van Gundy said Monday. "And what happens a lot is every guy who has the ball is trying to make that play and there's nobody just willing to make a simple play and throw the ball back on a pick and roll and let the offense develop and make the defense move."

With all the new faces - including Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, Gary Payton and James Posey - joining holdovers like Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal and Udonis Haslem, the Heat expected to deal with some inevitable growing pains while trying to figure out how all the new pieces will fit together.

For their part, players seem largely unworried about the preseason problems.

"You can't go to a red alert right now. You can't call 911," Payton said. "You've got to let it all happen. We've got 82 games. It's good that we've got these eight preseason games. We've been through three, we've got five more. We've got a lot of time to focus. We're going to be OK. We're going to be fine."

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed forward Jason Kapono. Kapono, formerly a restricted free agent with the Charlotte Bobcats, was signed to an offer sheet by the Heat on September 30. The Bobcats declined to match the offer sheet. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kapono appeared in 81 games (14 starts) for the Charlotte Bobcats last season, averaging 8.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 18.4 minutes per game, while shooting 40.1 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three-point range and 82.6 percent from the free-throw line. He scored in double-figures on 35 occasions and set many career-highs last season, including a career-high 25 point performance at Detroit on November 21. He also ranked 13th in the league in three-point field goal percentage.

The Miami Heat announced today that they have signed forward Darius Rice and guard Kevin Braswell. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rice spent the 2004-05 season playing for the Florida Flame of the NBA D-League. He averaged 10.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 29.9 minutes per game. In 42 games, he shot 40.2 percent from the field and 86.7 percent from the free-throw line.