Kevin Durant Might Consider Miami Heat?

What’s an NBA offseason without discussing what plans big free agents have for the following summer, and how the Miami Heat fit it with those plans?

On Monday, Akash Malhorta, an intern with ESPN, tweeted out that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant might consider the Heat and the Washington Wizards as possible destinations if he chose to leave the Thunder.

WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Of course this needs to be taken with a Mount Everest-sized grain of salt, as news like this usually isn’t broken by interns. Then again, ESPN has Chris Broussard on the payroll, so all bets are off with the Worldwide Leader.

Durant, the crown jewel of the free agent class of 2016, is in the final year of his deal with Oklahoma City. He can sign a five year max contract to stay with the Thunder, whereas a team like the Heat can only offer four years. This gives the Thunder the chance to trump any offer thrown Durant’s way.

But Durant might be interested in taking his talents (ugh) elsewhere if he feels Oklahoma City doesn’t do right by him. Three summers ago, the Thunder traded James Harden to the Houston Rockets when contract negotiations fell apart, because Harden wanted the max and the Thunder didn’t want to make that kind of commitment. Popular opinion is that OKC was trying to avoid going into the luxury tax, so now the Thunder have been trying to show Durant that they’re willing to spend by acquiring Dion Waiters during the season, and signing Enes Kanter to a max-deal this summer.

As for the Heat’s chances of signing Durant, it might take some financial gymnastics to make it work. For the moment, Miami would have $37.4 million in cap space for 2016. But keep in mind that the Heat would need to have space available to re-sign both Dwyane Wade and Hassan Whiteside. If Wade is amicable to a big hometown discount – all bets are off after this summer’s drama –  then that would give team president Pat Riley some flexibility.

It’s the Whiteside deal that could pose a problem, as the Heat don’t own his Bird Rights and would need all the cap space they can get to bring him back. Should he live up to the lofty expectations many Heat fans have for him, a max-deal could be in his future. Such a situation would leave the Heat with a dilemma, unless they unloaded the contract of Josh McRoberts.

The Heat always seem to be in the center of every free agent rumor mill, and 2016 should be no exception. The other (possible) big free agent, LeBron James, has seen his name in social media associating with Heat players at the gym and at field days (Admit it: the thought of LeBron yelling at Mario Chalmers for screwing up at the Human Wheelbarrow Race made you smile), so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that there’s more than meets the eye there; though it is still rather unlikely. Maybe LeBron is hanging out with the Heat because he got word that Durant might be interested in Miami. Classic jealous ex-girlfriend move.

The Wizards play in Durant’s hometown, so they would have to be considered a co-favorite, along with the Thunder, for his services. They will also have cap space available to offer him a max contract. But if you leave the door open for Riley, then you can’t count out the Miami Heat’s chances of taking the crown.