3 reasons why the Miami Heat should trade for Kevin Durant

Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

1. The Miami Heat desperately need shooters around Butler and Adebayo.

If everyone else is traded away, that will leave Butler and Adebayo as the centerpieces with Durant. Thankfully, it would be a snug fit.

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 Cleaning the Glass). Bam was about the same from midrange and only attempted three triples all season, so spacing isn’t in their DNA.

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.

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.

He commanded double teams more than 30% of the time he had the ball last season, according to NBA CourtOptix, 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.