Could Juwan Howard retire to become a Heat coach?

Juwan Howard wants to be back playing with the Miami Heat. At age 39 he is working out at the Miami Heat facility, trying to be the big the Heat use to round out their roster.

But Miami is looking at other bigs — former Knick Josh Harrellson worked out for them, Chris Andersen is trying to get his foot in the door — and Howard may not be back for a third season with Miami.

At least as a player. Check out this quote from Dwyane Wade, as told to our man Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.

“Obviously, if he comes into camp and we’ve got open spots, Juwan is a guy who has meant so much to us, we would love him around, no matter what the case may be,” he said. “If it’s around as a player? Yeah. If it’s around as part of the coaching staff, we just want him to be here. And hopefully he’ll want to stay here and everyone can do whatever they can to make it happen.”

Wade does not hire and fire coaches (directly, anyway). This is a Pat Riley/Erik Spoelstra call. And it’s not what Howard, wants, he wants to be a player for another year.

Just saying that Juwan Howard retiring and coming back as a Heat coach is not out of the question.