The Miami Heat have a pressing need for a star. Not even necessarily a specific one, either. A high-end shot-creator would probably be ideal, especially given Tyler Herro's uncertain future with the franchise, but they surely wouldn't mind a true standout two-way wing. And unless they're blown away by the flashes Kel'el Ware has shown, they'd have to give a star big man serious consideration, too.
A lot of options are on the table, in other words. But an Anthony Davis pursuit shouldn't be one of them. It might seem like an obvious fix with NBA insider Marc Stein reporting the Dallas Mavericks are expected to work with Anthony Davis on whether to pursue an in-season trade, but Miami has needs that even this 10-time All-Star couldn't provide.
Davis has his own red flags, and that's without accounting for the clear fit concerns in Miami.
To be clear, Davis is an uber-talented player. If Heat fans wanted to talk themselves into the idea of adding him, it wouldn't be too difficult. Beyond his individual accolades, he's been the second-best player on a championship team already (the 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers). Plus, slotting him alongside Bam Adebayo certainly worked defensive wonders for Team USA at the 2024 Olympics.
Adding Davis now, though, would change everything for Miami—and not in a good way.
You know the Heat's new free-flowing, high-speed, movement-based offense that's become the talk of the basketball world? Well, he'd put a wrench in that game plan really quickly.
While still vertically explosive, the 32-year-old plays mostly a methodical, controlled style. He's much more likely to hunt mismatches in the half-court than he is to be motoring down the floor in a full-throttle transition attack.
He also never really developed a long-distance shot at this level. He's only once averaged even one three-pointer per contest and owns a career 29.5 percent splash rate. And since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, he's hitting just 25.7 percent of his outside shots—on fewer than two attempts per game.
There are pressing questions, then, about how he'd fit this pace-and-space attack, since he doesn't play with pace or really space the floor. Now, throw in the fact that Adebayo's early gains from three may not necessarily sustain—he shot just 29.2 percent from range over his last four outings before being sidelined by a toe sprain. So, if Bam's not a shooting threat (and historically he hasn't been), you worry this could be a space-killing combo.
Some might still argue that Davis' skill level and Miami's glaring need for star power should trump everything else. And you could almost sell me on that if it weren't for his major availability issues. He has cleared the 70-game mark just three times over his 14-year career, and the second-most recent season in which he did was 2017-18. But you don't even need to dig through the archives to find evidence of his injury trouble, since he's out right now with a calf strain.
He could supply the Heat with star accolades and name recognition, but how often would he be on the court giving this group star-level stats? Because even if that answer is not often enough, he'd still command a star-level price—definitely in salary ($54.1 million for this season, $58.5 million next season, per Spotrac) and maybe in terms of trade chips, too.
It might pain Heat fans and team president Pat Riley to hear this, but this conceivably available star isn't the one they actually need. The fingers-crossed waiting for the right needle-mover continues.