If the Dallas Mavericks are indeed ready to build around Cooper Flagg (the NBA's Rookie of the Year award winner), it could give the Miami Heat a golden opportunity to check back in and gauge the trade market on Kyrie Irving.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, there are "several contenders expected to call the Mavericks about Kyrie this summer." Theoretically speaking, it would make at least some sense for the Heat to kick tires on the idea of it. Especially if they miss out on some of their bigger targets.
If the Heat are indeed looking for some backup plans this summer, Kyrie could be considered as an intriguing option. In a vacuum, Kyrie would seemingly be an excellent offensive fit next to Bam Adebayo in the frontcourt.
Could Kyrie Irving emerge as a backup plan for the Heat?
He'd take the scoring pressure off the rest of this Heat team, while also providing the playmaking element that the Heat has sorely missed. Because of his age and contract, he's a trade target that wouldn't cost the Heat nearly as much as a pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard would.
The basketball fit wouldn't be the question. The real doubt lies about whether the Heat would want to pursue Kyrie or not.
And while the Heat did have some reported interest in the past, I'm not sure it's the open and closed-door question as it may seem to be.
Would the addition of Kyrie make the Heat a better team? Absolutely. But it does come with a level of risk. Not only because it's a trade that will require the Heat to include some real assets in the deal, but also because Kyrie is 34 years old, coming off a significant knee injury.
Kyrie Irving may not move the needle enough
Perhaps most importantly, there's no guarantee that trading for Kyrie would move the needle in a way that the Heat needs it to.
There's a certain level of upgrade that would arise from the addition of Kyrie, but it's hard to envision Miami emerging as real contenders in the Eastern Conference with just this move alone. Ultimately, that's why targeting Kyrie would have to be part of a bigger plan this offseason.
Even though he's still very much a talented player at this point in his career, acquiring Kyrie can't be the Heat's master plan heading into the summer. There has to be more, and Kyrie would have to be considered a complementary piece, or a desperate backup plan.
But it's certainly an opportunity that the Heat's front office has to at least consider. And depending on how the rest of the offseason unravels for the Heat, I'd imagine that they almost certainly will.
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