With the Miami Heat's sights set on Kevin Durant, it appears that their biggest competition has been officially revealed. How things are currently trending, the San Antonio Spurs are the biggest threat to the Heat for KD. If that is indeed the case, the Heat may be in over their heads heading into a theoretical bidding war for the superstar forward.
In addition to the Spurs and Heat, KD has also been linked to the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks over the last couple of weeks. There's also a chance that a few other dark-horse teams could join the running for KD.
It's the Spurs that have gained more traction through the recent reporting and speculation. They're the team the Heat have to be worried about the most right now.
The Spurs may be zeroing in on KD
Now that it's becoming more and more likely that Giannis Antetokounmpo isn't going to hit the trade block this summer, that allows the Spurs to shift their focus away from the possibility of a move for Giannis to a potential pursuit of KD. How aggressively San Antonio may emerge for a 37-year-old star past his prime remains to be seen. However, they're a clear threat.
KD played his college ball in Texas and would seem like a great fit next to De'Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama. It's also been recently speculated (with some shaky reporting) that KD may actually prefer a trade to the Spurs above all the other potential landing spots. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen, but it's a very real threat that the Heat must take seriously.
The front office has to be completely aware of where they currently stand in a potential bidding war for KD. If they were to go asset-for-asset against a team like San Antonio, the Heat would have little chance of winning that war.
The only saving grace for the Heat may revolve around the Spurs not being willing to put everything on the table for KD. That's probably the only shot Miami has at winning a supposed bidding war against San Antonio.
Honestly, it's a question that both the Spurs and Heat must answer as we inch closer and closer to the start of the offseason. How much is each team willing to sacrifice for 1-2 years of KD? How much should each team be willing to offer for such a small window of an aging star?
There's still much uncertainty revolving around how the KD situation is going to unfold. One thing that has become crystal clear, however, is the fact that the Spurs are probably the biggest hurdle the Heat may have to clear if they're serious about acquiring KD this summer.