Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall says he’ll try out for NBA if there’s an NFL lockout

Marshall says he might try out for NBA

DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins receiver Brandon Marshall says he has a fallback plan if NFL teams lock out players next year: He’ll try out for the NBA.

Marshall said he would audition for the Miami Heat or Denver Nuggets as a shooting guard.

“Right now I’m rusty,” he said after Dolphins’ practice Thursday. “Right now I’m no good. If I try out right now they’ll be saying, ‘What is this guy thinking?’ But after some training I’ll be fine. I’ll be right back where I used to be.”

The 6-foot-4 Marshall lettered in basketball three times at Lake Howell High School in Winter Park, Fla.

“I’m an outside shooter,” he said. “But it’s funny — I use the 3-ball to set up my penetration game. It’s a little backward.”

Marshall was a Nuggets fan while playing for the Broncos. He said he would try to get a workout with them, and would also be interested in joining LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat.

“Probably the better situation for me may be the Heat,” Marshall said. “They got those high salaries. I’ll come in and play (for the) minimum. … I just need minimum. Not for free. Minimum.”

The Pro Bowl receiver said he has a vertical leap of 37 inches, which makes him an inviting target for quarterbacks. But he doesn’t expect to be playing football next year at this time.

“As players, we want football,” he said. “Unfortunately, owners opt out, and there’s a lot of concern there. I think the question now is how long would a lockout be?”

The possibility of a lockout next season looms while the NFL and NFLPA try to hammer out a new collective bargaining agreement.

A work stoppage would mean a big financial hit for Marshall. After the Dolphins traded two second-round draft picks to Denver in April for the talented wideout, they gave him a four-year contract extension worth an average of about $10 million a year through 2014.

In Denver, Marshall caught at least 100 passes each of the past three years.