If the Denver Nuggets are intent on signing Golden State Warriors free-agent guard Gilbert Arenas, it might take a large chunk of their free-agent dollars.  

Arenas's agent, Dan Fegan, said Thursday that projections he has read about his client signing a contract starting in the $7 million range are off base.

The Utah Jazz, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Clippers also are believed to be interested in Arenas.

If the Denver Nuggets are intent on signing Golden State Warriors free-agent guard Gilbert Arenas, it might take a large chunk of their free-agent dollars.  

Arenas's agent, Dan Fegan, said Thursday that projections he has read about his client signing a contract starting in the $7 million range are off base.

"If you're asking whether a starting number of $7 million is enough to sign Gilbert Arenas, the answer is unequivocally no, it's not," Fegan said.

Denver is in desperate need of a starting point guard and has about $22 million to spend in free agency this summer. Arenas might be the top prospect on the Nuggets' free-agent wish list. Teams cannot comment on their interest until the signing period opens July 1.

Heat general manager Randy Pfund has whittled his wish list of possible draft picks, and the players Miami will concentrate its scouting efforts on over the next four weeks play where the team needs help most -- at point guard and in the post.

Pfund seems particularly confident in Miami's chances of landing an elite big man in the June 26 draft and appears to be honing in on Georgia Tech's Chris Bosh, Maciej Lampe of Poland and Chris Kaman of Central Michigan as possibilities at pick No. 5.

Bosh, a 6-10 power forward, could be snagged by Toronto at No. 4, but if he's on the board when Miami picks, Pfund should have adequate information to make an informed decision.

Pfund scouted Bosh ''six or seven times'' during the college season and still might conduct a personal workout.

The Heat also will take a closer look at Georgetown junior forward Michael Sweetney and a very intriguing prospect, 7-4, 300-pound Russian center Pavel Podkolzin.

While Carmelo Anthony, the anticipated No. 3 pick in the June 26 NBA Draft, was in South Beach Memorial Day weekend, Heat General Manager Randy Pfund and coach Pat Riley were in Los Angeles narrowing their choices for the team's selection at No. 5.

Realizing the teen trio of Anthony, LeBron James and Darko Milicic will be off the board by the Heat's turn, Pfund bypassed them while targeting a wide array of potential candidates Thursday.

Among the names drawing interest from the Heat are: Central Michigan 7-foot junior center Chris Kaman; 6-10 freshman Chris Bosh of Georgia Tech; 7-4 Russian Pavel Podkolzine; 6-11 Polish teen Maciej Lampe; 5-10 Texas sophomore point guard T.J. Ford; Louisville's 6-6 senior guard Reece Gaines; Kansas seniors 6-9 forward Nick Collison and 6-3 point guard Kirk Hinrich; Georgetown 6-8 forward Michael Sweetney; and Marquette 6-4 junior guard Dwyane Wade.

Marcos Muente has a proposal for Denver and their off-season direction.  He's all for trading the third pick and Marcus Camby and receiving T.J. Ford w/ the 5th pick in the draft, along w/ Miami's Eddie Jones.

It's difficult to fathom that with the fifth pick the Miami Heat would select a fourth-tier quality player.

But that's the way draft expert Chris Monter sees this draft shaping up.

''To me there is a drop-off after the first pick, another drop-off after the third pick and another drop-off after the fourth pick,'' Monter said. ``That's why I think there would be a good propensity for [the Heat] making a trade because there is such a drop-off.''

Unless a handful of players make an impression during workouts in the next four weeks, teams drafting in positions four through 13 likely will engage in heavy trade talk leading to draft day, June 26.

The Heat, which holds the fifth pick, is one of the teams desperate to improve immediately and will listen to every offer in search of a quick fix.

Unfortunately for the Heat, few franchise-altering trades have been made on draft day in the past decade. In fact, only the shrewd Dallas Mavericks have been able to build the core of a successful team with draft-day deals.

You gaze at the Heat's roster and wonder.

You ponder the Heat's off-season options and you wonder.

Then you look at coach Pat Riley, the architect of this thing, and you wonder.

Can he do it? Can Riley, the second winningest coach in NBA history, call on his cunning as team president and wit as a coach to fix this mess?

Was that a chuckle? You say you haven't seen that acumen as a manager or coach recently?

That's what this off-season and the next regular season is all about for the Heat: Whether Riley, given some tools, albeit somewhat limited ones, is still the man to plot the course for this franchise.

Don't curse the heavens, Heat fans.

Thursday's NBA Draft lottery didn't fetch the Heat the prized No. 1, 2 or 3 picks in the June 26 draft.

Those belong to Cleveland, Detroit and Denver, and will be used on LeBron James, Darko Milicic and Carmelo Anthony.

But at No. 5, one spot behind Toronto, and armed with a little bit of trade bait in Eddie Jones, Brian Grant and even Alonzo Mourning in a sign-and-trade scenario, the Heat still wields enough clout to get back on the road to respectability.

"We are where the draft starts now," coach Pat Riley said, "and that should give us some leverage."

The trade possibilities are vast. Some will be initiated by the Heat, some by other teams.

With every day comes seemingly another scenario about how the Heat could have more, or less, salary cap room with which to sign free agents this summer.

For those who are not enamored with any of the prospects that are projected to be available with the No. 5 pick next month, here is yet another scenario that could excite you.

The Heat could -- such an offer would have to be made of course -- trade its No. 5 pick for another team's future first-round pick, leaving the team with no first-round pick this year. What that would do is free up some extra cap space for the Heat that it would have had to use to sign the No. 5 pick.

The No. 5 pick is slated to make about $2.4 next year. Without being forced to allocate that money to a draft pick, the Heat could have more than the projected $6 million in space.

One NBA general manager said the projected salary cap figure is $42.3 million (the actual figure won't be announced until the summer).

The Heat has Brian Grant, Eddie Jones, Anthony Carter and Caron Butler under contract, totaling about $30 million. After accounting for the cost of ''cap holds'' and retaining a few of its younger players, the team could still have somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 or $9 million in cap space.

That amount would make the Heat legitimate contenders to sign any free agent outside of Jason Kidd, Tim Duncan and probably Jermaine O'Neal.