Rapper  DMX has been pronounced  dead a source  confirms.  DMX had been in an extended  coma while hope remained  however  medical testing  has confirmed no brain activity.  His family have made the  difficult  decision to withdrawal  supportive care. More to come  as we receive  updates. 

The Heat need a backup center badly. Someone who can rebound, block shots, catch lobs, and simply finish at the rim. Precious, who is currently a rookie, is the Heat's current backup center but with the lack of developmental time he has gotten this season, it is clear that he is not ready for that role.
 
So with Precious not where he needs to be and the Heat on the hunt for someone who's a rim protector and a good rebounder, who could the Heat look to bring in to fill their needs? They currently have two open roster spots on their team and with some already big names off the market like Demarcus Cousins and Gorgui Dieng, some smaller names are emerging as potential signings for Miami. One of those names is Dewayne Dedmon. He was in the 2013 draft and stands at 7 feet tall. He is 31 years old and averages about 6 points per game and 6 rebounds a game. These are solid numbers coming from a backup center but not great numbers either considering that he has only averaged over 1 block a game 2 times in his NBA career so far. Signing this veteran wouldn't be a bad choice but also wouldn't be a great choice either.
 
Another name that has recently come to light is…..Hassan Whiteside. Ya, I said it. The same man who once got paid 94 million dollars by the Heat just to be an average starter and be traded in his 3rd year under contract. The Heat can offer him a 10 day contract and see how it goes and potentially offer him another one then to maybe sign him for the rest of the season but that is a big risk that they would be taking. Hassan had a lot of issues off the court when playing for Miami. Not legal issues or drugs, but his ability to be mentally strong when not playing or throwing fits when his playing time went down. This often showed when he played, as he took bad shots, his energy was low, he didn't play good defense and even was just lazy while playing. It was terrible to watch at times and you just felt embarrassed for him but given all that, when he decides to show up, the guy can be a beast. He has posted multiple triple doubles with blocks, which means he has scored over 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a single game. That rarely happens and he has done it multiple times while with the Heat. He has also come close many times but coming up short with 7, 8, or 9 blocks in a single game. This is a great stat and if he could bring himself back to this guy, he would be a great addition to Miami but his maturity level on and off the court seems to be a big issue to the possibility of signing him.
 
Miami seems to have some options when it comes to who they want to sign and bring in at backup center but as time runs out, we will see what the organization decides to do.

Bam Adebayo can play the four but the Miami Heat need to find a solution for their gaping hole at the five spot.
 
 

I can't believe I am actually writing about Jake Paul being a boxer but here I am. After knocking out basketball all-star Nate Robison in his last fight, he is set to fight Ben Askren on April 17th. If you think you remember Ben from somewhere, you probably do, after him getting knocked out in the UFC by legend Jorge Masvidal went viral. Jorge knocked out Ben less than 5 seconds into the first round with a flying knee straight to the head. Ben’s next fight was against Demian Maia, who won the fight in the third round by a rear naked choke. Then Ben retired completely from the UFC. It has just been over a year since Ben has fought and he is changing to boxing to fight a former YouTuber.
 
As we saw with the Nate Robison fight, it is not as easy as it looks to switch sports no matter how good of shape you are in and clearly doesn't matter if you are a professional athlete or not. Once you step into that ring, who you are, what you have done up until that point, or who supports you clearly does not matter. You can get knocked out cold and you will have to live with that forever. The fight between Ben and Jake should be compelling because it's not a boxer vs a boxer, it's an ex YouTuber and an ex UFC fighter going head to head.
 
Watching Jake's last fight, we can tell that he is taking his fighting seriously but Ben isn't a lazy chump with no fight experience at all. Ben has won 19 fights as a UFC fighter, 6 by TKO, 6 by submission, and 7 by decision and only has 2 losses. This guy knows how to fight and knows how to win. Ben is also getting paid more money for this fight then he's ever been paid in the UFC. Even though Ben isn't a professional boxer when looking at the money aspect of things, it's clearly one of the motivations behind taking the to fight Jake Paul.
 
Given that Ben was a professional UFC fighter and won the first 17 of his 19 matches when fighting, I will have to pick Ben over Jake in this matchup. Even though Jake has only but a few fights under his belt don't count Jake out so easily because he has some power behind his punches as we all saw him knockout Nate Robinson. But when it comes to fighting, once you step in the ring, nothing else matters, you can still get knocked out by your opponent no matter how much experience they have.
 
Who do you have for this boxing match and why? Let me know in the comments! ​