With the New York Knicks climbing the mountaintop to earn the crown that comes with being the 2026 NBA champion, the work continues for the 29 other franchises looking to now dethrone the Knicks from their perch. The Miami Heat are always looking for ways to improve the roster, especially with their contending window looking more and more closed with each passing year since they made it to the NBA Finals in 2023.
The Heat are involved in trade talks for Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they almost made the trade for Ja Morant in the middle of the 2025-26 campaign. In the end, the Heat decided to stay the course — only to find themselves on the outside looking in on the playoff picture after the Charlotte Hornets eliminated them in the play-in tournament.
Their quest to bolster the squad continues, and it looks as though they will be exploring the possibility of bringing in Trae Young, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.
It was only a few months ago when the Washington Wizards traded for Young in a buy-low deal with the Atlanta Hawks, sending CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert in exchange for the four-time All-Star.
While it is still the “expectation” of many that Young will be staying with the Wizards on a new long-term contract (after declining his player option for the 2026-27 season worth nearly $49 million), the Heat are trying to play spoiler as they look to add more star power to their fading team.
It's not quite clear though as to why the Wizards would agree to a trade with the Heat; Young is their guy, and they're a team that can surround the diminutive floor general with the kind of rangy and lengthy defenders who can help cover for his weaknesses on that end of the floor.
The unlikelihood of bringing in a few of their trade targets have not stopped the Heat from kicking the tires on such possibilities in the past, however, so expect them to take this potential Young pursuit of theirs as far as possible.
