{"id":116170,"date":"2025-06-22T10:46:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/116170\/"},"modified":"2025-06-22T10:46:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-22T10:46:10","slug":"miami-heat-refuse-to-include-young-prospect-in-kevin-durant-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/116170\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Heat Refuse To Include Young Prospect In Kevin Durant Trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Miami Heat Refuse To Include Young Prospect In Kevin Durant Trade<\/a> originally appeared on Fadeaway World<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Miami Heat<\/a> remain in hot pursuit of Kevin Durant, but they\u2019ve drawn a clear red line in trade discussions, and it begins with 21-year-old center Kel\u2019el Ware.<\/p>\n

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According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer<\/a>, Miami has made it \u201cfirmly clear\u201d that Ware will not be part of any package for the 36-year-old former MVP. The Suns, meanwhile, have responded by seeking significant draft capital instead including Miami\u2019s No. 20 overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n

Ware is coming off a promising rookie season where he averaged 9.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting over 55% from the field.<\/p>\n

He was a key reason why the Heat felt comfortable shifting Bam Adebayo<\/a> to power forward and retooling their frontcourt without needing a veteran big. Ware\u2019s size, mobility, and floor-spacing upside make him a modern center prototype, and Miami clearly sees him as part of their long-term core.<\/p>\n

The Heat\u2019s stance has further complicated what was already a difficult negotiation.<\/p>\n

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The Suns<\/a> are said to be growing impatient as they attempt to coax a strong offer for Durant, who is coming off another elite season, averaging 26.6 points per game on 52.7% shooting. Still, most interested teams<\/a>, including Houston, Toronto, and San Antonio, have balked at Phoenix\u2019s demands. Several executives believe the Suns have overplayed their hand.<\/p>\n

What makes matters worse for Phoenix is that Durant has reportedly already given his stamp of approval to three teams<\/a>: the Rockets<\/a>, Spurs<\/a>, and Heat<\/a>. With the Spurs falling behind after lowballing the Suns<\/a>, and the Raptors hesitant to give up core pieces, the Durant sweepstakes have turned into a staredown between Houston and Miami.<\/p>\n

And both are holding firm.<\/p>\n

Miami has refused to include Bam Adebayo<\/a>, Tyler Herro<\/a>, or Kel\u2019el Ware. The Rockets have likewise refused to give up<\/a> Jabari Smith Jr., Tari Eason, or Reed Sheppard, and sources say Phoenix is lukewarm on Jalen Green<\/a>. The Wolves, for their part, have already been ruled out after Durant<\/a> made it clear he would not report to Minnesota.<\/p>\n

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The Suns are desperate to rebuild their roster after last season\u2019s collapse, but with few bidders and even fewer assets on the table, they find themselves in a familiar bind: trying to trade a superstar past his prime for a package worthy of his name.<\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s situation is uniquely precarious. They hold multiple future first-round picks and the No. 20 pick in the 2025 draft, but their salary cap situation is tight, and without Ware or Adebayo in the mix, it\u2019s unclear if they can create a competitive enough offer without sending out three or more future picks.<\/p>\n

Still, Durant reportedly sees Miami as an ideal landing spot, a title-hungry franchise with culture, coaching, and a history of maximizing aging stars. If the Suns eventually lower their price, the Heat could still emerge as the favorites. But with five days left before the NBA Draft, time is running out.<\/p>\n

Whether it ends in a blockbuster or a summer stalemate, Miami\u2019s refusal to part with Ware has sent a strong message: the future matters just as much as the present. Even for Kevin Durant.<\/p>\n

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Related: Blockbuster Trade Idea: Clippers Could Create Big 3 With Kevin Durant; Last Chance For An NBA Championship<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World<\/a> on Jun 21, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Miami Heat Refuse To Include Young Prospect In Kevin Durant Trade originally appeared on Fadeaway World. The Miami…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3778],"tags":[1179,7,144,292,2497,3553,861,981,938,295,189,3881,307,6,681,1081,211,969,534,604,873,1176,680,492],"class_list":{"0":"post-116170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-bam-adebayo","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-heat","11":"tag-houston","12":"tag-jabari-smith-jr","13":"tag-jake-fischer","14":"tag-jalen-green","15":"tag-kelel-ware","16":"tag-kevin-durant","17":"tag-miami","18":"tag-miami-heat","19":"tag-miamiheat","20":"tag-minnesota","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-raptors","23":"tag-reed-sheppard","24":"tag-rockets","25":"tag-san-antonio","26":"tag-spurs","27":"tag-suns","28":"tag-tari-eason","29":"tag-the-heat","30":"tag-toronto","31":"tag-tyler-herro"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114726619368563414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}