At this point, you have to respect the game. The Miami Heat loves its pursuit of stars, despite the clear risks that it represents. And they may have their next prime target in sight: Ja Morant.
For better or worse, the Heat seem to be pursuing Morant. How aggressively remains to be seen, but it does seem as if this is going to be a big storyline for Miami over these final few weeks up until the February 5 NBA Trade Deadline.
Per Marc Stein (and others), the Heat have already held talks with the Memphis Grizzlies about Morant:
"Miami continues to be mentioned as a team with legit Morant interest. Anthony Chiang (of the Miami Herald) reported Wednesday that there has been tangible dialogue between the two sides."
The Heat loves to chase stars
This is hardly surprising. This is what the Heat does. They want stars. They target stars. And while they, from time to time, end up with "egg on their face" with this aggressive philosophy, they believe this tactic is worth the risk. It's worked out enough over the last couple of decades that it's hard to blame them.
Back in 2004, Miami landed Shaquille O'Neal. In 2010, the Heat hit on two big stars by acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh, and then in 2019, hit on Jimmy Butler. Sure, they have whiffed here and there, most notably on stars like Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Damian Lillard, and perhaps others, but the Heat is clinging to their star-starved identity.
Morant could be the next star in line.
At the very least, he'll be remembered one way or another. He'll either be the next star the Heat acquires (and for pennies on the dollar) or the next one they whiff on. Either way, this falls right in line with who the Heat have been over the last couple of decades.
And it doesn't appear they plan on changing tactics anytime soon, especially not with Riley still having a huge influence in the front office. Even though he's not necessarily the final decision-maker for the Heat, he does still have a say in what the franchise may or may not decide to do.
It's certainly one thing to keep in mind as we inch closer and closer to the end of this most recent trade season, with the Heat seemingly zeroing in on Morant as a target.