The Miami Heat seem intent on making a splash this offseason. They came ever so close to a second Finals appearance in the last 3 seasons in 2021-22 but bowed out in 7 games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. It was evident during that series, that the Heat needed another scoring threat alongside Jimmy Butler, and the team has been considering how to tackle the issue.
They got a big boost when Kevin Durant listed them as one of his preferred destinations after requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, and Donovan Mitchell being made available for trade gave them yet another option. The problem, however, is that the Heat don’t seem to have the pieces needed to acquire either, and Jake Fischer reported that the team is looking to acquire draft picks which they can, in turn, send to either Brooklyn or Utah to trade for Durant or Mitchell.
via Please Don’t Aggregate This (at the 11:30 mark):
“I have been told from multiple people that Miami is trying to go find multiple picks to either send to Utah for Donovan (Mitchell) or to send to Brooklyn for Kevin Durant.”
It makes sense for the Heat to do this, as their package of players is going to be headlined by Tyler Herro, which isn’t ideal. They will need to give up a massive haul of picks and are undoubtedly, like other league personnel, pissed at what the Jazz were able to get for Rudy Gobert, which has messed up the trade market.
How they get these first-round picks is another question altogether, as teams won’t part with them unless they get some good value. If Miami does somehow pull that off, then they might be in play for Mitchell at the very least, and despite his flaws, he would be a great addition that might just push them over the finish line next season.
