The Miami Heat could have extended their stay in the Kevin Durant trade sweepstakes, but they decided to turn down the offer that the Phoenix Suns were looking for, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. And based on what Charania stated that the package was, the Heat just committed organizational malpractice:
“The Suns' conversations focused on the Rockets and Heat in recent days, but both teams showed an unwillingness to part with young cornerstones such as Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard (Houston) and Kel'el Ware (Miami) in a Durant deal, sources said,” Charania wrote. “The Heat made multiple offers for Durant but ultimately turned down the opportunity to place Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, the No. 20 pick and other draft assets all together in a deal, sources said.”
That’s an insane offer to turn away from.
The Heat should have had Kevin Durant
Obviously, there’s more context needed for this conversation. What additional draft picks were the Suns asking for? Would the Heat have had to gut their cabinet of first-round picks?
But still, if that was the extent of what the Heat would have had to give up in a trade for Durant from a players perspective, they just missed the chance to compete for championships in a move that will be looked at as an insane fumble.
In the potential trade package Charania reported, the Heat would have been able to keep Kel’el Ware, Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo. They could have rolled out a starting lineup of those four players and Durant.
Based on the current structure of the Eastern Conference, especially considering the injuries to Jayson Tatum and Darius Garland, that roster, with Erik Spoelstra leading the charge, could have had a chance to go very, very far.
Instead, the Heat’s own internal stubbornness got in the way.
None of the three players who would have supposedly been included in the deal cracked the 25-minute-per-game mark this past season for Miami, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. was in and out of the rotation for most of the year.
They could have retooled the roster around Durant, Herro, and Adebayo, forming an elite defense with Durant, Adebayo, and Wiggins as the centerpieces. Plus, Durant’s scoring would have taken their offense to new heights, solving a major problem the Heat are currently facing.
Obviously, Durant only has a few years left in the league, as he will be 37 years old for all of next season. But with how open the Eastern Conference is, and considering how much the Heat were being asked to give up, they just made a massive mistake.