The February 5 trade deadline had two franchise-altering names floating around the league: Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant. The Heat were tied to both rumors, and nothing happened.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Heat were explicitly in that Antetokounmpo mix, bumping heads with the Warriors, Timberwolves, and Knicks to land the Bucks’ superstar at the deadline.
Barry Jackson at the Miami Herald reported that the Heat discussed Morant internally and made an initial call weeks before the deadline, as Jake Fischer also reported the Heat’s interest in Morant in late January, but ultimately decided not to pursue a trade.
That’s the part that keeps stinging. The Heat were also one of only three teams that did not make a trade during deadline week, along with the Rockets and Spurs, while the rest of the league was active.
So the chatter wasn’t some one-off. It’s another chapter in the Heat’s modern identity: they live in the superstar rumor ecosystem, they get linked to the biggest names, and way too often the story ends with “stayed put” or “picked another team.”
Here we’ll run through the timeline since the bubble Finals run, and revisit the swings and misses, and how each saga actually ended.
1. James Harden (2020)
The James Harden saga is the first major “post-bubble” swing, and it also sets the template for a lot of what comes next: loud links, quick temperature checks, and then the Heat stepping away before it ever feels inevitable.
The timeline really starts on December 12, 2020, when Heat interest became part of the broader reporting around Harden’s push to leave the Rockets. Barry Jackson reported the Heat were monitoring the situation, and that Harden added the Heat to his preferred landing spot list.
The league context mattered here: Harden was still a top-tier offensive engine, and any contender that needed half-court creation was going to get mentioned.
But the reporting turned quickly. On December 21, 2020, ESPN reported the Heat had ended their pursuit after only limited talks. The key detail in that story was what it implied: the Rockets wanted a monster return tied to Tyler Herro, and the Heat either couldn’t or wouldn’t go to the place the Rockets required with their rookie star.
Sports Illustrated echoed that framing the same day, citing Brian Windhorst and pointing to limited draft flexibility as a major problem for the Heat’s offer-building.
Then the ending came fast. On January 14, 2021, Harden was traded to the Nets in the blockbuster that formed a true superteam around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. ESPN’s coverage laid out the basic shape and confirmed what the reporting suggested all along: the Rockets prioritized maximum value in picks, swaps, and flexibility, and the Nets were the team willing to pay the steepest price.
For the Heat, Harden is a clean “real enough to be sourced, not real enough to get to the red line” miss. They were connected early, they explored it, and when the cost got heavy, they backed out and watched the star land somewhere else.
2. Kyrie Irving (2022)
For a few days in late June 2022, the Heat got pulled into the Kyrie Irving carousel the way they always do with stars: not because a deal was close, but because the idea made sense on paper if a few things broke right.
The key reporting drop came on June 23, 2022. ESPN reported that Kyrie Irving had a sign-and-trade wish list if he couldn’t reach a new deal with the Nets, and that list included the Heat alongside the Lakers, Clippers, Knicks, Mavericks, and 76ers. That sounds like a “Heat are in it” moment, but the same ESPN report also framed the core constraint: none of those teams had cap space to just sign him outright, so everything depended on the Nets cooperating in a sign-and-trade.
Four days later, the other shoe dropped. On June 27, 2022, Adrian Wojnarowski reported for ESPN that the Lakers were the only team known at the time to be actively pursuing Irving in a sign-and-trade, and that there were no other known teams planning to chase that route. That’s the cleanest way to describe it: the Heat were on the list, but the interest wasn’t clearly mutual, and the league never treated it like a two-team bidding war.
So how real was it? Real enough that it was sourced and published, but not real enough that it ever felt like the Heat were driving the market. A wish list is leverage. The Nets still had the steering wheel, and the easiest play was always Irving opting in and delaying the chaos.
That’s exactly what happened. Irving picked up his option for the 2022-23 season, only to be dealt later that same season to the Mavericks, where the Heat missed again in his pursuit. From there, the Heat moved on, and the “Irving to the Heat” chapter ended the same way a lot of these do: loud for a while, then gone.
3. Kevin Durant (2022)
This one wasn’t subtle. When Kevin Durant asked out, the Heat weren’t just “monitoring.” They were on the scoreboard.
On June 30, 2022, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Durant requested a trade from the Nets, and the Heat were one of the teams on his wish list, along with the Suns. The same Woj reporting made the blunt point that mattered for every team involved: the Nets weren’t tied to honoring any preferred destinations, and they planned to chase the biggest return.
That’s why the Heat part of this story always felt like a high-end fantasy with real smoke behind it. The reporting made it clear the Heat were a preferred landing spot. But preference doesn’t equal leverage when a team holds four years of contract control, and when the seller is telling everyone, publicly, “we’re taking the best package.”
The Heat’s issue was always the same: star-hunting is expensive, and Durant required the kind of offer that leaves a team hollowed out. You can’t pitch “culture” and “Finals experience” if the trade strips your depth, your picks, and the very two-way players that make your culture work.
The resolution from the 2022 chase didn’t even end that summer. Durant stayed with the Nets into the 2022-23 season, and the blockbuster trade didn’t actually happen until February 9, 2023, when ESPN reported the Suns acquired him.
So, in the Heat timeline, Durant 2022 is a real, sourced miss. He wanted the Heat as an option. The Heat were never positioned to outbid the best offer without gutting themselves. And once the Nets set the price at “historic,” the Heat were basically shopping with a cap instead of a blank check.
4. Donovan Mitchell (2022)
The Donovan Mitchell saga is the cleanest example of the Heat being interested, but not being willing to lose the negotiation.
On July 12, 2022, Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Jazz were willing to listen on Mitchell trade scenarios after initially shutting down inquiries. That’s the moment the league treated Mitchell as truly available, and the Heat immediately sat in the “logical suitors” bucket.
Here’s where the Heat-specific reporting matters. Barry Jackson wrote that same day that the Jazz were listening, but that a Heat offer reportedly didn’t get it done. That framing lines up with how this played out publicly: the Jazz had patience, they had leverage, and they were waiting for someone to pay a premium.
Mitchell’s own market value supported that stance. In the 2021-22 season, he averaged 25.9 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.2 rebounds, with 35.5% from three. He was 25 years old, under team control, and squarely in his prime. That’s exactly the kind of player teams overpay for.
The Heat didn’t. Whether it was picks, a blue-chip young player, or the total package, Miami’s reporting trail consistently pointed to the same theme: interest, conversations, but no appetite to get dragged into a price war.
And then the hammer fell. On September 3, 2022, it was official: Mitchell was traded to the Cavaliers in a blockbuster. The Jazz got the type of multi-asset haul that usually only shows up when a team finally finds the most aggressive bidder.
The Heat were early, they were present, and they refused to be the team that blinked into an overpay. That’s rational team-building. It also means you don’t get Donovan Mitchell.
5. Damian Lillard (2023)
Coming off the 2023 Finals loss to the Nuggets, the Heat didn’t need a think piece about “another creator.” They needed the creator. Jimmy Butler had dragged them back to the last stage again, and the roster still had the same obvious problem when the game slowed down: too many possessions ended with Butler having to manufacture everything.
That’s why the Damian Lillard chase felt like the moment to finally go all-in.
On July 1, 2023, ESPN reported Lillard requested a trade from the Blazers. The first Heat-specific piece that made it feel real came the same day, when Marc J. Spears reported (via Andscape) that Lillard’s preference was to be traded to the Heat. From there, the storyline settled into months of “waiting for the phone to ring.”
ESPN’s reporting captured the stalemate pretty cleanly. On September 25, 2023, ESPN wrote that while other teams had recent conversations with the Blazers, no deal was close, and that in the nearly three months since the request became public, there had been no substantial trade conversations between the Heat and Blazers. That’s the under-discussed part: it wasn’t just that the Heat didn’t land him, it’s that the negotiating lane never really opened, shockingly enough considering how many links Lillard had with the Heat online.
Meanwhile, the basketball case for the Heat was obvious. Lillard was coming off a monster 2022-23 season: 32.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds in 58 games, with 46.3% from the field, 37.1% from three, and 91.4% at the line. That’s not “upgrade the offense.” That’s “change the ceiling.”
The ending is the punchline Heat fans still hate. On September 27, 2023, Lillard was traded to the Bucks in a three-team deal that also involved the Suns. The Heat were left holding the most painful version of a miss: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Damian Lillard’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, was calling teams and warning them against trading for Lillard if they weren’t the Heat, telling them they’d be acquiring “an unhappy player.”
That’s the strongest, most recorded “he only wants the Heat” reporting thread.
The need was screaming, and the Heat simply didn’t value him enough to push all their chips in. The Lillard chase ended up as the hardest miss of them all, where the Heat became the clearest frontrunner in every reporting, but still decided to back down from an all-out offer.
6. Bradley Beal (2023)
This one was different because it was never a normal market. Bradley Beal had the NBA’s rare power card: a no-trade clause, which meant the Wizards could talk to teams, but Beal could still steer the destination. His five-year, $251.0 million contract came with that no-trade clause as a key sweetener.
So when the Heat popped up as a finalist in mid-June 2023, it wasn’t empty “linked to.” It was the kind of chase where one player’s preference could decide the whole thing.
On June 17, 2023, Shams Charania reported the Wizards were in serious talks with two finalists, the Heat and the Suns, on a Beal trade. That’s as clean as it gets: two teams, one star, one front office trying to close quickly.
But the timeline also shows how fast it slipped. On June 18, 2023, Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Suns were finalizing a trade with the Wizards to acquire Beal. That’s basically the moment the Heat part of the story ends. Once Woj was at “finalizing,” you were usually talking about paperwork, not leverage.
The on-court pitch was easy to understand. Beal had averaged 23.2 points, 5.4 assists, and 3.9 rebounds in 50 games in 2022-23, shooting 50.6% from the field and 36.5% from three. For the Heat, that’s the exact archetype they’ve chased for years: a real scoring guard who can carry offense when Butler sits and can close games when defenses sell out.
So how real was it? Very real. It wasn’t “Heat called.” It was “Heat were one of two finalists,” in a situation where the player had meaningful control. And the reason it belongs in this list is simple: it was yet another big star chase after the Finals loss where the Heat were legitimately in the final two, and still watched the guy pick the other door.
7. Donovan Mitchell (2024)
By January 2024, the Heat were back in the same place they always end up: good enough to scare you in a series, thin enough that you can still see the missing piece. The “missing piece” talk is usually lazy, but in this case it was pretty specific. They needed a perimeter star who could bend defenses without relying on chaos.
That’s why the Donovan Mitchell thread never really died.
On January 10, 2024, Marc Stein wrote that the Heat “continue to have bona fide interest” in Mitchell, even with the Cavaliers projecting a hard “don’t-even-call-us” stance, and that the Heat could test that resolve with proposals after missing on the Beal and Lillard pursuits the prior summer.
That’s a pretty sharp piece of reporting because it frames both sides: the Heat interest is real, the Cavaliers resistance is real, and the only way it moves is if the Heat decides to push hard anyway.
The other reason the rumor had legs is that his contract was coming up, and extension rumors were put in question for the entire season. Mitchell was coming off a 2023-24 season line of 26.6 points, 6.1 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in 55 games, with 46.2% from the field, 36.8% from three, and 86.5% at the line. That’s a true No. 1 scoring guard, in his prime, under control.
And then came the part that quietly closed the door. On July 2, 2024, ESPN reported Mitchell agreed to a three-year, $150.3 million extension with the Cavaliers that included a player option. For the Heat, that’s the familiar finish: interest exists, the framework makes sense, but the actual path never clears because the other team either refuses to sell or finds a way to keep the star.
8. DeMar DeRozan (2024)
Right after the July 1, 2024, free agency opening, the Heat got linked to a name that fit the exact short-term goal: add a proven half-court scorer without needing to tear the roster down. DeMar DeRozan wasn’t the “mega-star” tier like some other swings on this list, but the idea was simple. When games tighten, DeRozan can create shots, live at the line, and carry possessions that otherwise turn into late-clock prayers.
The reporting was real, and it came from the local lane that usually has the cleanest read on Heat intent. On July 2, 2024, the Miami Herald wrote there was mutual interest between the Heat and DeRozan, while also laying out the problem immediately: financially, the Heat’s options were basically limited to a $5.2 million taxpayer mid-level type path unless they found a complicated workaround. That’s the part that matters for a “how real was it” grading. Interest was legitimate. The path was not.
That cap reality shaped everything that followed. If DeRozan wanted star money and a multi-year deal, the Heat were staring at two bad choices: convince him to take way less than market, or try to engineer a sign-and-trade while juggling hard-cap and salary constraints. In practice, that usually means dumping salary first, then hoping the rest of the league doesn’t outpace you with a cleaner offer.
And a cleaner offer arrived fast. On July 6, 2024, ESPN reported DeRozan landed with the Kings via a three-year, $74.0 million sign-and-trade. That’s the moment the Heat chase ends, because it underlines what this entry really was: not a “lost bidding war,” but a “couldn’t build a legal offer that matched the player’s price.”
On the court, it made sense why the Heat sniffed around. DeRozan had just averaged 24.0 points, 5.3 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 79 games in 2023-24. That’s still high-end production, especially for a team that too often asked Jimmy Butler to be the entire offense late.
So yes, it was real. But it was real in a very Heat way: mutual interest, one loud day of momentum, and then the money and mechanisms killed it.
9. Kevin Durant (2025)
By the summer of 2025, the Heat-to-Kevin Durant connection returned in the most dangerous form: not generic “they’re interested,” but a preferred-destination report that actually narrowed the conversation.
On June 11, 2025, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Durant and the Suns had met several times to sift through possible trade scenarios, and that those talks were centered around a small list that included the Heat (along with the Spurs, Rockets, Knicks, and Timberwolves).
Then came the clean Heat-specific headline. On June 14, 2025, Charania reported the Heat, Spurs, and Rockets were Durant’s preferred trade destinations, and that league people had been made aware that those were the teams he would commit to with a long-term extension. Preferred list plus extension willingness is the closest thing the modern NBA has to a “soft no-trade clause,” and it’s exactly why the Heat are on this list again.
This wasn’t just about vibes. Durant was still playing like a top-shelf scorer. He averaged 26.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in 62 games in 2024-25, with elite efficiency markers that kept him in the superstar tier even as the calendar moved. For the Heat, that’s the dream: one plug-in scorer who can win half-court possessions without needing perfect spacing or perfect pace.
But the reality was the same trap as always. A Durant deal is never “add him.” It’s “add him, and subtract a ton.” The Suns were motivated to maximize value. The Heat needed to build a package that was strong enough to win a bidding war, while also leaving enough behind for Durant to matter. That’s a tiny needle to thread, especially when multiple teams can offer either cleaner picks, better young talent, or both.
So the 2025 Durant swing was real, sourced, and specific. It just lived in the hardest territory for the Heat: a superstar available, but only at a price point that usually demands you stop being the Heat and start being a rebuilding team.
On June 22, 2025, Charania reported the Suns agreed to trade Durant to the Rockets, and the Heat were left on the outside again, staring at the same problem they always run into with true superstar trades.
10. Giannis Antetokounmpo (2026)
For about a week, it felt like the Heat were finally back in the exact kind of room they’ve been chasing since the bubble Finals run: the “top-five player might actually move” room. On January 28, 2026, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Giannis Antetokounmpo was “ready for a new home” ahead of the February 5, 2026, trade deadline, and that the Heat were one of the serious suitors alongside the Warriors, Knicks, and Timberwolves.
That report didn’t read like idle speculation. It framed this as Bucks leadership starting to listen, with the price point made crystal clear: a blue-chip young talent and/or a surplus of draft picks. The Bucks also left themselves an out by signaling they weren’t rushing anything and could revisit in the offseason if the market didn’t hit their number.
The on-court case was obvious. Antetokounmpo was averaging 28.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 5.6 assists, and doing it at a ridiculous efficiency clip, including 64.5% from the field while scoring at a 25-plus-points-per-game level. The broader context also mattered: the Bucks were 18-27 and sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference at the time, which is exactly when organizations start having “hard conversations.”
So what actually happened? The deadline passed, and Antetokounmpo stayed with the Bucks, which is why this belongs in the Heat “misses” file. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps wrote on Friday that the Giannis drama is now likely to extend into the summer, and he specifically noted that none of the top suitors, including the Heat, did anything at the deadline that would block an offseason blockbuster.
That’s the most Heat version of a miss: they were legitimately in the mix, the reporting was specific, and the outcome still landed on “not now.”
11. Ja Morant (2026)
This one was never as “close” as Giannis. It was more like a temperature check that turned into a market report, and the market never warmed up.
The story broke on January 9, 2026, when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Grizzlies were, for the first time, entertaining offers to move Ja Morant ahead of the trade deadline, potentially.
That single sentence is why Morant ended up in the rumor ecosystem at all. Once “entertaining offers” is out there, every contender gets mentioned, and the Heat are basically automatic in that kind of conversation.
When the deadline arrived, ESPN’s follow-up reporting made the ending pretty blunt. Charania wrote that multiple teams showed interest, but none were willing to make a serious offer, and league sources described the market as lukewarm in part because of Morant’s availability track record.
The numbers also helped explain why teams got cautious. Morant is at 19.5 points, 8.1 assists, and 3.3 rebounds, with career-worst efficiency marks of 41.0% from the field and 23.5% from three. And financially, Morant still has two years and $87.0 million left after the season.
Where does the Heat specifically fit in? In his same ESPN deadline report on Friday, Bontemps wrote that while the Heat were a rumored destination, they “were not a real option,” according to sources.
Morant was available enough to generate calls, but the Heat angle never matured into a true pursuit, as they were trying to fish for Giannis instead, and the Grizzlies couldn’t find an offer they believed in anyway.
