While the Miami Heat were unable to land star forward Kevin Durant in a trade this summer, a report from Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald indicated that it’s still possible he plays for the organization one day. Jackson claimed that the potential 2026 free agent will “forever be a Heat possibility.”
A former two-time champion with the Heat can’t envision that happening, however. Former floor general Mario Chalmers doesn’t think Durant will ever suit up for Miami due to Heat legend LeBron James’ legacy and the inherent pressure that would come with joining the team.
“No, I wasn’t surprised,” he told Scoop B. “I’ve been saying it for years. I don’t think KD ever goes to the Heat just because of the LeBron legacy. He’s gotta win two or more championships before he goes to the Heat so, I don’t think that pressures warranted at this age or at this time so I’d never thought that he’d go to Heat.”
It’s not like Durant doesn’t know what it takes to win an NBA championship, as he has two under his belt. However, ever since he left what was a historically stacked Golden State Warriors squad in the summer of 2019, he hasn’t exactly won at an incredibly high level.
While it’s true that basketball is a team game and it takes more than one great player to win at a high level in the league, Durant hasn’t even played in so much as a conference finals series after departing Golden State.
How Durant’s lengthy career has panned out to this point hints that he can’t be the definitive best player on a championship team, but that doesn’t mean his acquisition still wouldn’t majorly help Miami’s chances of contending in the Eastern Conference.
Even though Durant is on the other side of 35, he’s still among the cream of the crop of scorers in the league. He just averaged 26.6 points per game with the Phoenix Suns last season and averaged the sixth-most points among all qualified players in the NBA.
It’s worth keeping tabs on how the Houston Rockets fare in Durant’s maiden season with the team. If Houston underperforms and still struggles to advance deep into the playoffs next year, that theoretically will only help Miami’s chances of acquiring him in free agency in the summer of 2026. All in all, don’t be surprised if plenty of Heat fans root for the Rockets to fail in the coming campaign.