A bomb was dropped on the Miami Heat and NBA World as free agency approached, as it was reported that Kevin Durant has asked out of Brooklyn. With both the Miami Heat and Phoenix Suns at the top of his list, both teams are obviously interested in landing the two-time champion, even if it means throwing whatever they have to on the table.
This might be one of the biggest NBA trades to ever go down, so it’s only right that they want the best assets possible. Does Miami have the better assets to throw at Brooklyn?
Some pundits and reporters around the league don’t think so.
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ESPN’s Stephen A Smith said earlier on Thursday that the Miami Heat have “assets that the Brooklyn don’t particularly want.” He would also emphasize that Durant wants to be in Phoenix, playing alongside Devin Booker and Chris Paul.
The Miami Heat had a bomb dropped on them as free agency started. With Kevin Durant wanting out of Brooklyn, the Heat are one of his top options.
Whether the last part is true or not, about where Durant actually wants to be, Phoenix does figure to have the better assets to offer talent-wise.
If Brooklyn makes an about-face, as the reports indicate that they aren’t interested in him at the moment, to suddenly want Deandre Ayton, a sign-and-trade could be a massive deal. Phoenix could potentially add Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges, and other assets like draft capital.
Miami, at best, has Tyler Herro and almost all of the roster outside of Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler going to Brooklyn. Well, that along with draft capital and perhaps even other forms of compensation.
If Brooklyn is looking for talent that will work hard and aren’t on bulky deals, Miami is certainly the way to go. The only player that would hurt them salary-wise would be Lowry, but they could easily flip him somewhere else.
It may not look too good for Miami, but at the end of the day, it’s the Brooklyn Nets’ decision. Even if Durant has Phoenix on the top of the list, he still has Miami on that list as well.
With the Ayton and Suns situation, it’s very likely that we could see Phoenix fall out of contention for Durant. First off, Brooklyn would have to, again, want Ayton and be willing to sign him to a max deal. Ayton would have to be willing to accept the deal too.
And at the end of the day, seeing Phoenix out of contention might be the most crucial thing for Miami to land Kevin Durant.
So, while the Miami Heat don’t have the more appealing talent or names, they do have salaries that are team-friendly, while being able to offer an intriguing mix of talent. It’ll be interesting to see how Brooklyn moves going forward.