The Miami Heat should feel a weight lifted off their shoulders right now. While they would have, assuredly, loved to have found a way to acquire Kevin Durant from the Brooklyn Nets without having to give up one of their two best players, Jimmy Butler or Bam Adebayo, they weren’t able to.
In fact, no team around the NBA was able to conjure up enough to be able to get the Nets and Durant to part ways. That stalemate felt around the entire league has now led to this point.
With Durant and the Nets coming to a middle ground, it seems, he will continue with that situation over in Brooklyn. While nobody can quite say what this might mean for the Nets, Durant, or others’ future, such as Kyrie Irving most interestingly, it does allow the Miami Heat to move on.
However, they aren’t the only ones that seemed to be relieved.
Though he isn’t in this situation, on a one-year pact in the form of an extension signed with Minnesota for $13 million before being traded to Utah, Patrick Beverley spoke on the scenario.
The Miami Heat can finally move forward after some sort of finality on Kevin Durant has emerged. They aren’t the only ones who might be relieved though.
His main gripe seemed to be about how this has held up the futures of some of the fringe or unsigned NBA guys after the news of Durant and the Nets mending their relationship dropped.
#BLAMEKD https://t.co/BiRhf4nFyr
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 23, 2022
Of course, Kevin Durant’s response was just as spicy, but Beverley does make a point. Though that’s the business and nobody is really at fault here, it does highlight a very somber part of said business.
Beverley wasn’t alone in his sentiments though. Though he didn’t attack it as directly as Pat Bev did, Isaiah Thomas shared his sentiments.
Finally lol. Can we sign now lol
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) August 23, 2022
The Kevin Durant situation coming to a close, for the moment at least, does provide the opportunity for the rest of the league to move on.
Holding out hope, resources, and on transactions to make sure that you could be in on whatever happened there isn’t a crime and actually the smart thing to do for your franchise if you are in charge of making those calls. That certainly seems like the case for the Miami Heat.
As for them though—and apparently a few more around the league, the end of this whole fiasco should bring some sort of relief.