ESPN Trade Idea Lands Hall-of-Famer Kevin Durant in Miami

There was a whole lot of noise around the league at the trade deadline surrounding the Phoenix Suns, who, were surprisingly willing to move on from Kevin Durant.

There were multiple reports suggesting that Durant could end up back in Golden State, or even in Miami at the trade deadline. All of that changed when Durant shut down the idea of being a Warrior again, but ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst have made it clear ever he will almost definitely not be in Phoenix next season.

Kevin Pelton of ESPN recently put together a piece with four different Kevin Durant trade proposals.

Pelton’s suggestion for Durant potentially landing with the Miami Heat is the Suns getting Nikola Jovic, Andrew Wiggins, a 2025 first round pick from the Golden State Warriors (acquired by the Heat as part of the Jimmy Butler trade), a 2030 first round pick from the Heat and a 2026 second round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers. Finally, the Brooklyn Nets would receive Duncan Robinson, Keshad Johnson, two top-four protected first-round swaps (2029 and 2031) and a 2031 second round pick, which could be the Heat or Pacers’ pick, depending on which pick is better.

The idea is an interesting one and makes a lot of sense for all parties involved. The Heat have tried to acquire Durant several different times in the past decade. In the Pat Riley era, have always attempted to acquire their next star whenever possible.

Although Durant turns 37 years before the start of next season and doesn’t have the same burst he did when he was younger, he is still productive. He gets to his spots at will, and converts at at a high level, shooting 55 percent in the mid-range and 41 percent from three this season. He’s averaging 27 points with a 64 True Shooting percentage (ranking in the 91st percentile) while ranking in the 95th percentile in Offensive Estimated Plus-Minus, which tracks with the rest of his career.

For as good as Durant still is, this isn’t necessarily an easy “yes” for the Heat. They have to give up multiple valuable assets for an aging star with some injury history and just one year left on his contract. They would keep rookie stud Kel’el Ware and Jaime Jaquez Jr. in this scenario along with their own pick in this draft, which could be a lottery pick or even as high as top 10. Acquiring Durant would likely get them back in the playoff mix, but would by no means guarantee them even being a favorite to make the Eastern Conference finals.

For the Suns, not only do they move from Durant, (since it seems likely that he would’ve ended up either asking out or just walking in free agency in 2027), but they’re able to stockpile some draft picks, (which they desperately need to restock), get back a positive impact player in Wiggins, a promising young player in Jovic and get about $20 million in tax savings.