As a guest star on "The OGs" show, former Heat center Hassan Whiteside opened up. about the time he tried to bring Kevin Durant to Miami. According to Whiteside, he offered Pat Riley to take a pay cut in order to make room for the superstar swingman.
"I told Pat [Riley], I said if KD comes I'll take less money. It was more so about winning," said Whiteside. "We would have Goran, D-Wade, Kevin Durant, Chris Bosh, and then me at the five... I'm here for it."
Hassan Whiteside played for the Heat from 2014-2019, where he averaged 14.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. While his time in the NBA was relatively short-lived, he was one of the best centers in the league for a stretch and a core member of the Miami Heat roster.
With Durant, who was in his prime at the time, the Heat would have been championship contenders in the league on par with other elite squads like the Warriors, Spurs, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Goran Dragic, while not a star, was a capable starting point guard who could shoot, handle the ball, and set up his teammates with easy assists. Dwyane Wade was older at this point, but he still had enough in the tank to be considered a star and he would have made an amazing partner for Durant.
There's also the Chris Bosh factor. As the starting power forward at the time, he was an important and valued member of the Heat's core group and he was supposed to take over as the leader before health problems forced an early end to his career. He averaged 21.1. points, 7.0 rebounds, and 0.7 blocks per game in his first season without the King.
With those starters and Hassan Whiteside in the middle, the Miami Heat would have posed a serious threat in the Eastern Conference and it might have been them in the Finals instead of the Cavaliers for that stretch in history. Sadly for Heat fans, it just wasn't meant to be.
Despite the efforts of Whiteside and a hard recruiting pitch, Durant never signed with the Heat in 2016 and instead broke the NBA by joining the Golden State Warriors. According to Heat veteran Udonis Haslem, it wasn't the right time for them to add Durant as the franchise was still reeling after losing LeBron James in 2014. Durant would have been constantly compared to his rival as he attempted to fill his shoes. Had the Heat failed to meet expectations, Durant would have been the first one to blame and the pressure would have been immense. So while Kevin did take a meeting with the Heat that summer, it's hard to disagree with Udonis Haslem that he was better off signing somewhere else for that particular summer.
In his three seasons with the Warriors, Kevin Durant became a two-time champion and even won back-to-back Finals MVPs in 2017 and 2018. While some say it ruined his legacy and reputation in the league, he became a winner and accomplished everything that he sought to do.
Today, as a member of the Suns, Durant insists that he doesn't have regrets over how it went down and that he's content with how it all played out. Thanks to Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, the Heat currently have a pretty solid team but they have yet to win a title since 2013 and they must be feeling some type of way over missing out on an NBA legend that could have pushed them over the top.
