Dion Waiters has been looking for a team that can offer him a prominent scoring role.The Miami Heat could have just the role for him after a disappointing split with franchise star Dwyane Wade.Waiters and the Heat were finalizing a one-year contract worth $2.9 million, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Monday. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the contract has not been signed and announced.Waiters averaged 9.8 points for the Oklahoma City Thunder last year, but had several big games in the playoffs.His offensive burst with the second unit helped the Thunder keep pace when stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook needed rest, and his aggressive mentality fit well with a bench unit that needed some force.Waiters played particularly well against Dallas and San Antonio in the playoffs, helping the Thunder advance to the Western Conference finals against Golden State.The matchups werent as favorable for him in that series, one in which the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Oklahoma City.Waiters could slide right into the starting lineup in the Heat backcourt next to point guard Goran Dragic, offering the 24-year-old shooting guard the playing time and role in the offense that could help him lock down a more lucrative long-term deal down the road.His deal with Miami includes a player option for 2017-18 that is unlikely to be exercised so he can hit the court for unrestricted free agency early next summer.The Heat have a need for scoring after Wade made the surprising decision to leave the only franchise he has ever played for to join his hometown Chicago Bulls earlier this month.There are definite similarities between Wade and Waiters beyond just their initials. Both are 6-foot-4 scorers with stout frames that help them absorb punishment on drives to the basket. Both are aggressive scorers who rely more on the midrange game and getting to the rim than 3-pointers. Both have worn No. 3 on their jerseys.Wade, of course, is far more accomplished in his career with three championships and 12 All-Star nods in his 13-year career that made him an icon in South Florida.The daunting prospect of replacing such a celebrated figure in the Heats starting lineup likely would do little to deter Waiters, a confident personality who never hesitated to take big shots in Cleveland despite Kyrie Irvings status as the go-to player or in Oklahoma City when playing with Westbrook and Durant.Waiters started the summer as a restricted free agent, a designation that would have given the Thunder the right to match any offer given to Waiters. But after losing Durant to the Warriors, the Thunder rescinded their qualifying offer to Waiters, making him an unrestricted free agent.The Heat also matched guard Tyler Johnsons four-year, $50 million offer from the Brooklyn Nets and have other versatile pieces such as Justise Winslow and Josh Richardson in Erik Spoelstras rotation.---AP Basketball Writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this report. Cheap Brewers Jerseys . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Wholesale Custom Brewers Shirts . Kuznetsov, who was selected by the Capitals in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, has been playing for his hometown team Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL. http://www.custombrewersjersey.com/ . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Custom Brewers Jerseys . 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SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- When their team scores a goal at home, Calgary Flames fans are used to fire shooting from strategic points in their buildings ceiling, not from the home teams bench.Still, Flames first-year coach Glen Gulutzan is finding himself on an increasingly hot seat with less than 20 percent of the seasons games played as Calgary sinks further and further back in the Western Conference standings.The Flames come to Minnesota on Tuesday having lost four in a row, and owning a 5-10-1 mark, which is second-worst in the league (ahead of only the Arizona Coyotes).All of that recent losing had Gulutzan juggling his lines on Monday at practice before the team boarded a Minnesota-bound plane, looking for a new spark.When you lose four in a row, youve got to make some changes, Gulutzan said, without revealing the exact combinations the Wild will be expected to counter on Tuesday, although it looks as if Alex Chiasson will move to the second line and be replaced by Troy Brouwer, who will play with regular top-liners Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. Any guy weve got here weve got a chance of putting in, so well see how the lineup transpires.The Flames have scored just four goals during the four-game skid, and speculation is growing in Calgary that an early-season coaching change may be needed. However, Gulutzan, who coached the Dallas Stars for two seasons and is in his second head-coaching gig in the NHL, is less concerned about offense and focusing more on his teams inabiliity to consistently stifle the opponents offense.ddddddddddddEverybodys talking about the points, but the reality is weve given up 60-some goals, 50-some goals, Gulutzan said. If you go back a year from now, one of the reasons we didnt have success is we gave up 260-some goals. The top teams in the league dont do that.After a brief power outage in early November, the Wild (8-5-1) are back to looking like one of the top teams in the league, coming home after two weeks away and having just collected four of a possible six points on a three-game eastern road trip. And the health news is even better in Minnesota, after star left winger Zach Parise skated in practice on Monday and may return to the lineup after a two-week absence caused by a lower-body injury.Its good. It beats skating on your own, Parise said Monday after practice. Its one of those things I needed to get the progress and get back to feeling good again. It was good to be practicing with the team.Parise said he felt fine and would make his case to coach Bruce Boudreau about a return to the ice against the Flames on Tuesday, hoping to join Charlie Coyle and Eric Staal on the teams top line.It is the start of a whirlwind stretch in which Minnesota will play seven games in 12 days -- five of them at home.The Wild defense is on a roll, having allowed just nine goals in the past eight games. ' ' '