greg4012 wrote:SA37 wrote:
This.
Durant is still a top-10 player in the NBA and this gets hand-waved away in favor of "MoAaArRr MiNuTeS 4 LaRRSSooon and dRu". Why? "cUz 37". It's insanity.
A lot of what Miami could do next depends on whether a deal for Durant is centered around Wiggins/Robinson/Jaquez or Rozier/Robinson/Jaquez, but Miami has historically been good at getting the Chris Pauls, Bruce Browns, Gary Trents...etc to take less.
Boston will be a weaker team next year, and Indiana and NY are beatable teams. Philadelphia will likely be healthier and very tough, but Miami can give all these teams a run for their money if Miami gets Durant and all the youngins play as well in reality is they do in the collective RealGM Heat board posters' fantasies.
IMO, if Miami gets Durant, the Heat will put the full-court-press on Chris Paul. If Paul won't come, Miami could look to Tyus Jones, Denis Schroder, or Tre Jones. Trent Jr, Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway Jr, Eric Gordon, Seth Curry, are targets Miami could revisit if Burks can't be brought back.
Anderson / Jovic / Rozier / Highsmith could be shopped for an upgrade at a position of need, basically bench scoring.
If Miami somehow got Durant and added Paul and Brook Lopez +, that would be an ideal outcome for a 2-year run.
Lopez / Ware / Love
Adebayo / Jovic / Anderson
Durant / Highsmith
Herro / Burks / Larsson
Paul / Mitchell or Tyus Jones (?)
Generally agree.
While I still don't expect Miami to end up with Durant, it's a fun topic to explore the bball dynamics. If Miami can pull it off, a second move will be a priority. The avenues to do it will likely be (1) a second trade with the expiring Terry contract plus... and/or (2) bargain hunting for a vet min.
On point 1, while I've generally dismissed any Demar Derozan buzz, it might just make real sense if its in pairing with a Durant deal and Sacramento just wants to get off the multiple years remaining on Derozan's deal to instead get an expiring. Derozan is a flawed player and isn't a great defender, but he still does a bit of everything and has plus positional size and versatility. Derozan has had playmaking roles throughout his career when called upon.
This is kind of fascinating:
Each of the past 5 seasons, Derozan has been top 20 in the NBA in points per possession as a pick and roll ballhandler (7th this season and 9th last season). He has been over 1 ppp each of these past 5 seasons ( over 5 possessions per game in each of these seasons). Even more interesting, KD has been above 1 point per possession in 4 of the past 5 seasons (#2 in the NBA in 2023 and #4 in the NBA in 2022).
Point Derozan is kind of a thing in a part-time function as he does some of his best work on the ball.
A lot of interesting possibilities with a core of Durant, Bam, Herro, Derozan, Ware, Mitchell with support from Larsson, Highsmith, Anderson, etc.
I can dig this:
Mitchell - Vet PG
Herro - Larsson
Durant - Derozan - Highsmith
Bam - Derozan - Anderson
Ware - Bam
