3 reasons why the Miami Heat should trade for Kevin Durant

August 8, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> <p>Durant is still under contract for four more years, thanks to an extension he signed less than a year ago. He doesn&#8217;t have much leverage with the Nets, but Brooklyn may well decide they are better off without the 34-year-old who has struggled to stay healthy and might be a distraction all season.</p> <h2>Kevin Durant and the Miami Heat are a perfect fit.</h2> <p>Miami was one of Durant&#8217;s two preferred destinations, and although it would be difficult to cobble together attractive-enough trade packages, we&#8217;ve seen Pat Riley pull off miracles before.</p> <p>It&#8217;s uncertain what a Miami deal for Durant would look like, given the dependence on raiding other teams for assets, but it&#8217;s hard to imagine that anyone is untouchable outside of Jimmy Butler and (probably) Bam Adebayo. It may be worthwhile for the Heat, even if the Nets deal requires clearing out the cupboard of picks and players.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;Bam and Butler need some spacing </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_447515" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-447515" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1398215936.jpeg" alt="Miami Heat" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1398215936.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1398215936-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>1. The Miami Heat desperately need shooters around Butler and Adebayo.</h2> <p>If everyone else is traded away, that will leave Butler and Adebayo as the centerpieces with Durant. Thankfully, it would be a snug fit.</p> <p>Butler and Adebayo are both very good at many things on offense, but shooting isn’t one of them. They are excellent passers for their position and strong finishers at the rim, but Butler shot 33% on long midranges and a ghastly 24% on threes (per <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/526#tab-shooting_accuracy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cleaning the Glass</a>). Bam was about the same from midrange and only attempted three triples all season, so spacing isn’t in their DNA.</p> <p>These are two players used to operating in tight spaces, and they have overcome their limitations in the past thanks to abundant shooting elsewhere on the roster, heady passing, and clever off-ball play. But the Heat need the kind of marksmanship and halfcourt gravity a player like Durant provides.</p> <p>Imagine how much more space Bam and Butler would have to work with if Durant is manning the four instead of P.J. Tucker, who, for all of his corner-three efficiency, is not much of a threat on offense. We know what Durant can do as a shooter, but to reiterate: this is a guy who routinely shoots ~40% from deep and ~50% from midrange—elite numbers at any sample size but especially on Durantian volume.</p> <p>He commanded double teams more than 30% of the time he had the ball last season, according to <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://nbacourtoptix.nba.com/en/metrics/double-teams">NBA CourtOptix</a>, and the Nets scored a strong 1.16 points per possession on those plays. That magnetic presence would open up driving lanes for Butler and reduce the congestion in the paint for Bam in ways they’ve never experienced in Miami.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Tucker-sized gap in Miami's starting five </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_447514" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/17972150.jpeg">Philly&#8217;s alleged tampering</a>), the Heat have a gaping hole at power forward. They re-signed Caleb Martin, who played plenty of four in the past but is undersized at just 6&#8217;5&#8243; and doesn&#8217;t provide much offensive juice. They tried Max Strus there&nbsp;to moderate success for stretches last year, but there&#8217;s no doubt that power forward is Miami&#8217;s weakest spot right now. Neither of those players is truly a two-way option, and it&#8217;s unclear if either would even be on the team past the trade deadline.</p> <p>For all of Miami&#8217;s player development success over the last several years, and it is significant, they have always needed outside power forwards. In 2020, with Jae Crowder bodying up the East&#8217;s best wings and bombing from deep, they made the Finals. The following year, they tried to Frankenstein together a power forward out of the corpses of Andre Iguodala and Trevor Ariza and promptly got swept in the first round. And last year, of course, Tucker had a superb season as Miami fell six inches short of a Finals berth.</p> <p>Durant and Butler sharing the court would have two guys with both offensive and defensive versatility. Butler could guard quicker wings, while Durant could guard longer ones, and the positional designations wouldn&#8217;t matter. Bam is arguably the most flexible defender in the entire league. All three players could easily switch any frontcourt spot, and Butler and Bam are more than capable of slowing guards too.</p> <p>The Miami defensive and offensive schemes rely upon strong, flexible defenders who are both willing and able&nbsp;to fire away from deep. Durant certainly fits the bill here while also taking some of the creative pressure off of Jimmy Butler and/or Kyle Lowry (if he remains on the team). He&#8217;s not the defender he once was, but he&#8217;s still a better option at PF than anyone else the Heat would have (besides Butler).</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;The Clock is Ticking </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_411144" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-411144" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1178383615.jpeg" alt="Miami Heat" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1178383615.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1178383615-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">President Pat Riley of the Miami Heat (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>3. The Miami Heat don’t have time to lose.</h2> <p>Let’s face it: Miami’s title window slams shut as soon as Butler loses a step. Whereas other contenders, like Boston and Memphis, may have concerns about jettisoning young talent for an aging, injury-prone star like Durant, Miami is solely concerned with the next two years or so.</p> <p>Much of the Heat’s current rotation is young, but most of those players would have to be moved in any trade for Durant. Butler and, hopefully, Bam would be the key remaining pieces, but for as great as Adebayo is, he doesn’t project to be the sort of offensive anchor you need to supplement Jimmy as he ages.</p> <p>Butler has proven he’s as potent an offensive force in the playoffs as anyone in the league, but in both 2020 and 2022, Miami couldn’t muster enough scoring around him to get over the hump. A healthy Durant is the offensive answer to any question Miami’s roster might ask.</p> <p>Butler’s not the only one getting long in the tooth. Pat Riley turns 78 next season. There have been rumors circulating about his retirement for ages, and there has to be a limit to how long he can keep working at this level. Riley undoubtedly wants to go out on top, and he will do anything in his power to give his team a chance at another championship. He’s always been a star hunter, and there aren’t many stars brighter than Durant.</p> <p>Given Miami’s success at picking up players on the margins and turning them into productive NBA players and the allure of South Beach for ring-chasing veterans, filling out the rest of the gutted roster would be doable. A Durant/Butler/Adebayo core might be the best two-way trio in the entire league.</p> <p>Miami’s current core doesn’t have much time left with or without Durant, as Kyle Lowry turns 37 this coming year. Even role players the Nets likely wouldn’t want, like Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon, are on the wrong side of 30. Pat Riley has never been scared to push all his chips into the middle of the table.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Four teams that could make realistic offers for Kevin Durant" data-url="http://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/09/nba-trades-teams-realistic-kevin-durant/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/12/3-reasons-miami-heat-trade-kevin-durant/3/"http://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/09/nba-trades-teams-realistic-kevin-durant/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Four teams that could make realistic offers for Kevin Durant </a> </div> </div> <p>We’ll have to wait and see if the pot is enough to get Brooklyn’s attention.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">