The Miami Heat were considered as one of the frontrunners to land Kevin Durant as his trade saga with the Brooklyn Nets dragged on. KD himself identified the Heat as one of his preferred destinations as he attempted to force his way out of Brooklyn. As it turns out, however, the Heat were never really a strong contender in the race to begin with.
According to NBA guru Shams Charania of The Athletic, Miami knew from the get-go that their odds of landing KD were slim. The Heat still made an attempt to trade for the former league MVP — as they should. However, Miami pulled out of the race early. Shams dropped this truth bomb on a recent guesting on the STUpodity podcast (h/t Jonathan Sherman of Heat Nation):
“The last time, Stugotz, the Heat called the Nets was right around Summer League or even maybe even before that,” Charania said. “… They never really aggressively pursued a deal because I think at the end of the day, they knew they would have had to gut multiple players.”
The Heat knew Brooklyn's asking price for Kevin Durant, and they quickly realized that they were not willing to give up the farm to bring him to South Beach. Miami likes its core as it is, and not even the prospect of landing KD was enough to make them change their mind about it.
As it turns out, the rest of the league felt the same way. Opposing teams refused to meet the Nets' bonkers price for Durant, which is why in the end, he's staying in Brooklyn.
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