Report: Miami Heat on Kevin Durant’s instant wish list
Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant has shook up the NBA world by reportedly requesting a trade from the team.
In the aftermath of Durant’s trade request, the Miami Heat have come up on his reported wish list of destinations.
On Monday, as the league prepared for Kevin Durant to potentially request a trade during the Kyrie opt-in saga, Phoenix and Miami were often mentioned as the All-Star’s perceived favorite landing spots.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) June 30, 2022
Phoenix and Miami are among two of the teams that Kevin Durant has on his wish list, sources tell ESPN, but the Nets plan to move Durant where they can get the best possible deal. With four years on his contract, there’s no shortage of teams willing to unload assets for Durant.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022
The Heat would have to give up a massive haul to bring Durant onto the roster, but it’s rare that a superstar of his caliber ever becomes available in the trade market.
Miami would likely need to part ways with significant draft capital and a young player like Tyler Herro as a starting point in a potential Durant trade.
Durant, a 12-time All-Star, averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from beyond the arc last season for Brooklyn.
There is no doubt that Durant is one of the league’s most gifted scorers, and he has a regular season MVP and two NBA Finals MVPs to his name.
The Heat made the Eastern Conference Finals in the 2021-22 season and finished the regular season with the No. 1 seed in the East. While Miami fell short of the NBA Finals last season, adding Durant to a duo of Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo would make the Heat one of the favorites to win the title in the 2022-23 season.
It’s unclear where the Nets’ asking price will start with Miami or any other team, but Durant is going to be the biggest name on the market this offseason by far.
