Report: Heat agrees to deal with Joe Johnson

JOE JOHNSON has agreed to sign with Miami, a source confirmed to the Associated Press, a move that would give the Heat a shooter that they craved for the stretch run.

Johnson could sign with the Heat as early as Saturday when he clears waivers. The earliest Johnson - who was bought out by the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week - could play for the Heat is Sunday, when they visit the New York Knicks.

It's a complex move for the Heat, which made a series of deals at the trading deadline to get under the luxury-tax threshold and avoid the highly punitive repeater tax. The team was planning to wait until the second week of March to add a player, then would add another in the final week of the season to fill the roster but still escape the repeater.

Barring another move, those plans are now changed.

The Heat has long had a philosophy that it would pay the tax if it deemed a move worthwhile, and Johnson's shooting ability apparently qualifies as such. He has 85 three-pointers this season, more than any other Heat player. Miami's top three-point shooter this season is Chris Bosh with 81, and Bosh's status for the remainder of the season is most unclear as he deals with a blood clot that formed in his leg and was diagnosed during the All-Star break.

Miami is down to 10 available players, with three players - Bosh, Tyler Johnson and Beno Udrih - either hurt or ill, and two roster spots left vacant as part of the moves that got the Heat under the tax line.

The 34-year-old Johnson has a relationship with several Heat players, Dwyane Wade included, and has been to the postseason 10 times in his career. He has 1,797 three-pointers in his career.

* New Orleans guard Eric Gordon, who has missed 16 games with a fractured right ring finger, will return to the lineup against Minnesota on Saturday night, coach Alvin Gentry said. Gordon is averaging 14.9 points per game this season.