Zach LaVine is not going to be a surprise Miami Heat addition late this offseason. That much has become quite clear after the latest round of reporting.
According to Sacramento Kings reporter Jason Anderson, the Kings have no interest in working out a buyout agreement for LaVine in the event he's not traded before the start of the season. Over the last week, there had been some whispers that such a possibility existed, and that the Heat would've made sense as a potential landing spot.
However, that has now officially been debunked as an option. Unless the Heat are interested in trading for his bloated contract, which they may not even be able to do financially, the LaVine-to-Heat pipe dream has officially died.
The Heat still need to fill out the rest of their roster
In theory, it's easy to see why LaVine would've been an excellent fit in Miami. Next to Bam Adebayo and Giannis Antetokounmpo, LaVine has many of the attributes that the Heat need in a starting shooting guard role.
He's a better playmaker than he gets credit for, a consistently above-average 3-point shooter, and could very well benefit from a change of scenery at this point in his career. On paper, this was a pipe dream pairing that would've benefited both LaVine and the Heat.
At least for now, though, that just doesn't seem like a very realistic scenario. It's just not happening right now.
Who knows if the front office was actually holding out hope for this possibility? Either way, though, it should start pushing the Heat to other, more viable options. As we inch closer and closer to the start of training camp, Miami is eventually going to need to fill out the rest of its roster.
At the very least, Miami needs to sign two more players in the next few weeks. Recently, the Heat have been linked to several free agents. Up to now, the front office doesn't seem to be in any rush to make any definitive decisions, which is quite interesting.
Does this mean they're waiting on other scenarios? Are they potentially still waiting to see if Klay Thompson gets a buyout or not? Or perhaps another player?
It's difficult to tell exactly what the plan is now for the Heat's front office, but at least one thing has become clear, and it's that LaVine is a player that just isn't a realistic target.
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