Should the Miami Heat Trade for Kevin Durant?
Two-time NBA Finals winner and one-time NBA MVP, Kevin Durant, will be moving from the Phoenix Suns this offseason. Durant’s time in Phoenix was underwhelming at best, and flat-out terrible at its worst. The Suns attempted to build a contender by acquiring star players to match with their homegrown star, Devin Booker. That top-heavy approach to roster building unfortunately got the Suns nowhere, and now it’s time to move on to a new era for the team. The Miami Heat are a team looking to have a transformative offseason, and Pat Riley hinted that trading for a star to lead the team could be in play. The question for the Miami Heat, however, is whether Kevin Durant is the star they need to build their identity.
The Miami Heat are a rather young team, and Kevin Durant is not a very young basketball player. At age 36, the gas is going to run out of the tank sooner rather than later, and there may already be signs of that for Durant. He has only played over 70 games once in the past six seasons, which isn’t ideal numbers for a player you want to invest in. Durant also isn’t as explosive or physically dominant as he once was, which will only get worse as he ages. Beyond his age issues, Kevin Durant hasn’t shown the ability to lead a team to a championship level since he was in Golden State. The Nets went all in on Durant and a team of star-studded help, and it crashed and burned, leading to all of their stars being traded elsewhere. Three seasons on the Suns have gotten that team nowhere, and now they’re in no man’s land as far as roster construction goes. The Heat needs to be very confident that Durant can lead to wins before they invest in it, and there are many signs that he simply can’t be your win-maker anymore.
Not all hope is lost on Durant, and although the worries are very real and prominent, it shouldn’t be denied just how talented Kevin Durant still is. Kevin Durant is coming off a 26.6 point per game season while shooting .430% from the three-point line. Those are statistics that should not be overlooked or denied, and oftentimes, the numbers tell you the truth. Kevin Durant would be an immediate positive addition to the team, and would be a scorer who can create their own shot with ease. It’s not insane to say that a frontcourt of Kel’el Ware and Bam Adebayo using their size to impose against teams defensively, and Durant, and Tyler Herro using their scoring ability to destroy defenses would be a major problem in a very shallow Eastern Conference.
The Heat needs to consider their values and what they think they are worth. Is it a high-value decision to give up a potential first-round pick and possibly some young prospects on a guy who is at the tail end of his career? The answer, realistically, is probably not, as Durant likely doesn’t do what Jimmy Butler couldn’t and win a ring with this team. It is fair to note that Kevin Durant would have a much more mature roster, and a top-tier scorer in the league by his side with Tyler Herro, which is something Butler never had. A big part of Heat Culture is the notion that tanking is a losing ideology, and you must always stay competitive, even if you don’t have enough to win it all. Durant objectively makes you competitive, and after being swept with ease by the Cleveland Cavaliers, maybe that’s all you can ask for.
