The Miami Heat failed to land Kevin Durant after the Houston Rockets beat their underwhelming offer to the Phoenix Suns.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Heat emerged as a finalist in the Durant sweepstakes but did not try hard enough to land the 15-time All-Star.
“The Suns’ trade 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. 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 in a deal, sources said,” Charania wrote.
The Rockets ultimately landed Durant with a package consisting of recent former No. 2 pick Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, this year’s 10th pick in the draft and five second-round picks.
Heat’s Final Offer
Getty Terry Rozier of the Miami Heat drives against Kevin Durant.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reported that the Heat’s final offer was Andrew Wiggins, Terry Rozier, two bench players — Jaquez and Smith — and the this year’s 20th pick. Jackson added the Heat declined to include Ware but also did not offer Jovic.
The Heat though offered to take back an unwanted salary from the Suns to make up for the lack of draft capital or young talent. But the Suns were not interested in luxury tax relief.
In fact, the Suns went deeper into the second apron after trading Durant to the Rockets.
The Heat had three tradable first-round picks and two second-round picks, but they only included one first-rounder in their final offer.
According to Jackson, this marked the fourth time that the Heat failed to acquire Durant after their attempts in 2016 offseason, 2022 and at the last trade deadline.
Pat Riley Vows Changes But Fails to Follow Through
The failed Durant trade attempt is the latest failure of Pat Riley to add a significant talent which also frustrated former Heat star Jimmy Butler during his tenure.
Riley made it clear during his end-of-season press conference that they are not running it back.
“I think we do have to make changes. There’s no doubt,” Riley told reporters. “There has to be some change.”
Riley’s comments came on the heels of a tumultuous season marred by Butler’s messy exit and culminated in an embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round that saw them lose by an average of 30.5 points per game.
“There are some lateral trades that can be made to improve the team,” Riley added. “Do we inject an alpha? A great, great player to help maximize our performance in those double-digit leads that were lost? It could be that simple.”
Riley could not walk the talk as his reluctance to part ways with either Jovic or Ware cost them the golden opportunity to land Durant.
The future Hall of Famer would have elevated their roster to the upper echelon in a suddenly wide open Eastern Conference next season following Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles injury in the Indiana Pacers’ Game 7 loss in the NBA Finals.
