After the tumultuous end of the Jimmy Butler era in Miami, the Heat could replace their former franchise star with Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant this summer.
Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz proposed a blockbuster trade that would see Durant land in Miami to form a new Big 3 with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
Swartz’s trade proposal:
Miami Heat Receive: F Kevin Durant
Phoenix Suns Receive: F/C Kel’el Ware, F Duncan Robinson, G Terry Rozier, 2025 first-round pick (via Golden State Warriors), 2030 first-round pick (top-five protected via Miami Heat)
“Durant should like the idea of moving back to the Eastern Conference and joining a team with two All-Stars in their mid-20s while playing for one of the best coaches in the league in Erik Spoelstra. Durant and Spoelstra won an Olympic Gold Medal together with Team USA last summer,” Swartz wrote.
The two-time NBA champion has one year left on his four-year, $194 million contract. He is due for $54.7 million next season.
Suns’ Looming Decision is Good News for Heat
Durant’s time in Phoenix could be ending this summer as NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that they are moving on from the Big 3 model, which did not result in any playoff success over the last two seasons.
“One thing that I was told is that the Suns want to transition,” Haynes said on “Haynes’ Briefs” Friday, April 18. “They want to move away from the model that they’ve been going after for the previous two years of accumulating star talent, star players and then trying to see if it can mesh on the court. They want to move away from that and they are going to move away from that.
“So, the purpose right now and the goal moving into next season is to accumulate defensive-minded tough players. They want to play a defensive-minded, grind-it-out type of game. They want to have a product on a court that fans can appreciate.”
The Heat have the track record and the culture to make a Big 3 experiment successful. They should take advantage of the Suns’ woes to get back into becoming legitimate contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Kevin Durant Had ‘Mutual Interest’ With Heat
The Heat are one of the teams with whom he had mutual interest at the past trade deadline, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Back at the NBA trade deadline, there was a list of teams with which there was mutual interest with Kevin Durant,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show” at the time. “Those teams, from my understanding, are Minnesota, that’s New York, Houston, San Antonio and Miami.
“Those are the types of teams, from my understanding, that had interest then, and I expect them all to be in the mix this offseason. But the biggest thing to keep an eye on for all NBA fans and fans of those teams is: How does your team finish in the playoffs? How do the playoffs go? Because that’s going to really determine who feels like they’re a Kevin Durant away.”
The Heat were interested in Durant when they were shopping Butler around after the former Heat star demanded a trade.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ramona Shelburne reported that the Heat and the Suns were talking for weeks in a “high-stakes poker game” over Durant and Butler. The Heat ultimately sent Butler to the Golden State Warriors after the latter’s bid to reunite with Durant failed.
