Not trading for Kevin Durant leaves the Heat with more questions than answers
We ask the existential question: What even are the Miami Heat now?
It’s a repetitive dance that sorta comes with the territory of being a Heat fan: Big name becomes available, fan logs onto the trade machine, speculates as to how that big name could come to Miami, big name exits the news cycle. Rinse. Repeat.
This isn’t a criticism of Heat fans’ insatiable hunger for star power. It’s what we’ve been taught. It’s what The Boss Pat Riley has established as his modus operandi and handed down through generations, from Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway, to Shaquille O’Neal, to LeBron James and Chris Bosh, to Luke Babbitt and finally Jimmy Butler. It’s in the DNA.
There, of course, have been misses: LaMarcus Aldridge, Gordon Hayward, Kevin Durant, Kevin Durant again. And surely others we don’t know about that were pursued by Riley in the shadows of his downtown Miami office. With big swings comes big misses. Such is life as Miami’s greatest-ever home-run hitter (sorry Cabrera, Stanton). And as any eager hitter will tell you, the whole point is to swing.
That’s what makes this last jaunt around the rumor mill so different, and confounding.
Here was a star among stars — Kevin Durant — available for the taking. One of the best two or three players in the NBA by anyone’s measure. Thirty-three turning 34 years old, sure, but capable of maximizing the closing window the Heat are haphazardly propping open. Durant, the ultimate lift over the hump. Yet, even when he knew what it would take, Riley didn’t bite.
What’s with that?
The sticking point was Bam Adebayo. A 25-year-old All-Star and perennial defensive player of the year candidate with seemingly untapped offensive capabilities. Should the Heat have traded Bam for KD? Probably not, given the state of the roster and Durant’s frequent bouts of whimsy.
But would the Heat have traded Bam for KD?
It feels like yes, right?
When presented with a similar opportunity in 2004, Riley swung. He traded promising 23-year-old wing Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, starting center Brian Grant and two picks to the Lakers for 32-year-old Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq was brought in as the co-star to Miami’s incumbent headliner, Dwyane Wade. He did it again in 2010, parting with valuable picks and young players to create the space necessary to sign LeBron and Bosh.
Then this summer, with Jimmy Butler already in place, the front office acknowledged the need for another star. And then, as if on cue, Durant demanded a trade and listed Miami as one of his desired destinations. Voila! Trade Bam, a collection of picks and salary filler to Brooklyn, pair Butler with Durant, win a championship and smash the rebuild button. Rinse. Repeat.
And, yet, Riley resisted.
And I find myself questioning Riley’s M.O.
Again, not questioning if he should have done it. If I were in charge, I would not have. But I’m not Pat Riley. Pat Riley is Pat Riley, and Pat Riley made that trade every time. Until he didn’t.
So what gives? Why did Riley, at 77 years old, suddenly start prioritizing the future over the present?
I won’t presume to know what’s going on beneath Riley’s silver hair, but whatever the reason is does call into question the Heat’s philosophy. After all this time, have the Heat pivoted?
If the Heat aren’t the team that pushes the chips into the middle of the table in hopes that the next paycheck comes through before the next run to ATM, then what are they?
Are they building for the future? That seems doubtful, given that Butler is 32, Kyle Lowry is 36 and most of their picks are owed to other teams.
If they do decide to go in that direction, it would mean trading Butler and Lowry and leaning all the way into the Bam-and-Tyler Herro window, but how can you justify that after being a shot away from the Finals?
Are they all-in on the present? After letting P.J. Tucker walk, drafting a longterm project at the end of the first round and allowing teams such as Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Brooklyn to leapfrog them (at least in terms of talent) in the East, it’s hard to argue that they are.
Rather than make marginal improvements to maximize this core, the Heat held onto their assets and maintained financial flexibility. They’re desperate to add another star. And yet when presented with a star, though an imperfect one, the desperate beggar suddenly became a picky chooser.
The result is a team not quite all-in, but not quite rebuilding. A front office with one foot in, and one foot out. And as anyone who has tried to rap and play guitar will tell you, when you try to do two things at once, you usually end up doing none of them well.
If not Durant, then who is the ideal star that will become available? If it’s someone like Donovan Mitchell, will the Heat have enough to get a deal done? Will that star become available before the Heat’s window hastily closes? Or will the window close and force the Heat to rebuild after never attempting to put the finishing touches on this foundation?
The fact that there are so many questions speaks to the Heat’s unknown direction and the crossroads this front office finds itself at. Something can still give, but what better options will there be? Is this paralysis or patience? Fans hope for the latter, because paralysis in the NBA can mean purgatory, and purgatory in the NBA is no place to be.