What could Kevin Durant’s reported ultimatum to Nets mean for trade request and Heat?
Superstar forward Kevin Durant has yet to speak publicly since requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets on June 30, but his stance remains very clear more than a month later.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Monday that Durant reiterated his trade request in a face-to-face meeting with Nets owner Joe Tsai on Saturday, informing Tsai “that he needs to choose between Durant or the pairing of general manager Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash.”
As the Nets continue to hold firm on their high asking price for Durant, which teams around the league have yet to meet, Tsai took to Twitter on Monday night to show his support for Marks and Nash.
“Our front office and coaching staff have my support. We will make decisions in the best interest of the Brooklyn Nets,” Tsai tweeted just a few hours after The Athletic’s report.
So, what does this all mean for the Miami Heat?
Teams around the league are hoping Durant’s ultimatum will force the Nets to lower their asking price, but it remains to be seen if that will be the case. Durant is entering the first season of a four-year, $194 million contract extension he signed with the Nets last summer.
Durant, who turns 34 in September, reportedly listed the Heat and Phoenix Suns as his preferred trade destinations when he requested to be dealt in late June. Miami’s front office has had conversations with Brooklyn executives about a potential deal for Durant, but the Nets’ expectation for a historic return stalled talks.
A source told the Miami Herald two weeks ago that the Heat could revisit a potential trade for Durant if it becomes a more realistic option down the road but is not in a holding pattern awaiting clarity from the Nets. Though the Nets would have interest in center Bam Adebayo in a Durant trade, the Heat has not included Adebayo in offers for Durant and is so far unwilling to do so, according to multiple league sources.
It should be noted that Adebayo is not currently eligible to be included in a trade with the Nets because of NBA salary cap rules, unless the Nets trade Ben Simmons to the Heat or another team. That’s because of the Designated Rookie Extension rule: A team cannot have two players acquired via trade who were signed to that type of extension such as Adebayo and Simmons.
Without including Jimmy Butler or Adebayo, any Heat offer for Durant would need to be headlined by the 22-year-old Tyler Herro, who was named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year last season. Barring a change of heart, the expectation is Miami will not budge on its stance of keeping Adebayo and Butler off limits.
According to The Athletic’s report on Monday, the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and Heat “remain the most significant candidates to acquire Durant” and “the Nets have made clear privately that they will take every last asset from a team that trades for Durant.”
The Nets reportedly rejected a Celtics offer earlier this offseason that included Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and a draft pick, with Brooklyn asking Boston for more.
If the Nets don’t back off their high asking price for Durant, it will be challenging for the Heat to put together an enticing enough trade offer to acquire him without including Adebayo or Butler.
But in the wake of The Athletic’s report that Durant doesn’t want to work with Nash or Marks, the question is: Will this force the Nets to trade Durant prior to the start of training camp in late September to avoid any awkward tension and drama between the two parties?
That sort of deadline could take away some of the Nets’ leverage as the window to trade Durant before training camp shrinks as each day passes.
The Nets could also decide to take Durant into training camp if a good enough offer doesn’t present itself, which would force Durant to decide whether to skip practices as he waits to be dealt or play through it.
There are still plenty of questions left unanswered in the Durant sweepstakes, but Monday’s news was a sign of movement following a lull.
If the Heat doesn’t land Durant, its roster for next season will very likely look a lot like last season’s that finished just one win short of reaching the NBA Finals. Miami re-signed three players in center Dewayne Dedmon, forward Caleb Martin and guard Victor Oladipo in free agency and has yet to make any outside free agent additions this summer.
Twelve of the 13 players currently signed by the Heat to standard contracts for this upcoming season were also on the season-ending roster. If forward Udonis Haslem decides to come back for a 20th NBA season, as expected, the Heat’s roster would include 13 returning players.
