Report: Miami Heat ‘believed to’ have interest in Kyrie Irving

The Miami Heat are “believed to” have “some level of” interest the “sweepstakes” for current Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, Marc Stein reported in his latest substack article (subscription required) Wednesday.

Here is a snippet of what Stein wrote:

“Miami is believed to have some level of interst in joining the chase for Irving — should the Nets reach the point of actively trying to trade him — and would figure to be a more legitimate landing spot than the teams intitally mentioned given the Heat’s various trade assets. While it certainly ranks as another strain on the imagination to try to picture Irving finding daily comfort in Pat Riley’s rigid South Beach operation, it’s likewise true that the heat have never shied away from the starries of stars or personalities painted as challenging.”

Irving has until June 29 to either accept or decline his 2022-23 player option for $36.9 million. If he opted in, it would mark the last year of his deal and he would enter unrestricted free agency next offseason. But Irving, who has played 45.5 percent (103-of-226) of Brooklyn’s available regular season games since joining the franchise, is seeking a max extension from the Nets this summer with talks reaching an “impasse”, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania on Monday.

Among the rumored to be in the potential sweepstakes for Irving that Stein is referring to is the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers and the New York Knicks — the three Charania initially put in his report.

This isn’t Miami’s first rodeo with Kyrie Irving, labeling the Heat as one of his four preferred landing spots in 2017, along with the Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and the San Antonio Spurs. When he was with the Wolves, in 2017, Butler chose Irving on ESPN’s First Take when asked who he wants to play with the most, dubbing Irving was his “favorite player” who wasn’t himself.