The Miami Heat have received bad news on the Kevin Durant trade front.
While the Heat are one of the three teams — the other two are San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets — according to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania, they are not the Suns’ preferred trade partners.
According to Sam Amick and Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, the Suns are “still hopeful that Durant might warm to the [Minnesota] Timberwolves possibility” after Durant expressed he will not sign an extension if he’s traded there.
“I’m told Durant has no desire to be in Minnesota with the Timberwolves,” ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania reported on SportsCenter on June 16.
Yet even with the news leak from Durant’s camp, the Suns seem to prefer what the Timberwolves have to offer than the Heat, Spurs and Rockets have put forward.
Heat’s Offer Did Not ‘Excite’ Suns
According to ESPN’s senior NBA writer Brian Windhorst, no Durant trade is imminent because of the underwhelming offers they have received.
“The three teams on Durant’s list — Miami, San Antonio and Houston — have not made offers that have gotten Phoenix excited to this point,” Windhorst said on ESPN’s “Get Up” on June 16.
Amick and Krawczynski reported that the Suns “have it clear to Durant’s camp” that they are prioritizing the best return above the 15-time All-Star’s wishes.
“What’s more, they appear focused on landing the kind of impact players who can help now as opposed to prioritizing draft picks,” Amick and Krawczynski wrote.
Tanking is not on Suns’ owner Mat Ishbia’s vocabulary. Their goal is to recalibrate the roster and continue to build around Devin Booker.
The disconnect between Durant and the Suns have put the Heat at a disadvantage despite possession three tradable first-round picks, including this year’s 20th pick (via Golden State).
NBA inside Jake Fischer reported earlier that All-NBA Rookie Second Team member Kel’el Ware holds the key to a potential Durant trade for the Heat.
“Miami’s ultimate willingness to surrender Kel’el Ware, given the Suns’ noted hole at center, could be the true swing factor in the Heat’s Durant pursuit. In February, it was clear: Sources say Miami was unwilling at the trade deadline to part with either of its recent first-round draft successes: Ware or Jaime Jacquez Jr. Could that change now after Miami fell so flat in the playoffs with its post-Butler roster?” Fischer wrote on “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter.
Suns Prefer What Timberwolves Can Offer
Getty Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat drives against Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns.
The Heat cannot compete with the Timberwolves when it comes to high-impact players whom the Suns are seeking in return.
“The Wolves would seem to have options available to offer, with Rudy Gobert or Julius Randle headlining a package that could give the Suns hopes of contending,” Amick and Krawczynski wrote.
Ware isn’t a win-now player like Gobert, a four-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy or Randle, a three-time All-NBA forward.
The Heat have shortage of that kind of trade chips. They only have Andrew Wiggins and Terry Rozier as the veterans they could offer to the Suns.
Wiggins has drastically regressed since winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022. Rozier has become an afterthought in Miami since the trade from Charlotte.
But it’s not a lost cause yet for the Heat.
As long as Durant does not want to go to Minnesota, the Timberwolves will not make a hard push, according to Amick and Krawczynski.
