![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Screenshot-5-14-1.07PM-1024x683.jpg\")
(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n(Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
For 30 years, we\u2019ve always known one thing about current Miami Heat president Pat Riley: He\u2019s going to star hunt, and if they have even a sliver of a chance at competing for an NBA Title, the Heat will. They\u2019ve struck out on stars, but have also captured Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O\u2019Neal (at the tail-end of his prime), LeBron James, Chris Bosh and, most recently, Jimmy Butler.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s been their M.O. since Riley took over, and it hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been one of the most successful organizations because of it, winning seven conference titles and three NBA Titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013. Obviously, the biggest reason for their success is Dwyane Wade, but how the organization has operated with unparalleled stability, a revered culture and uncanny development can\u2019t go unnoticed under Riley\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n
However, coming off the team\u2019s first 37-win season since 2014-15, changes will be made. Just months after trading a disgruntled 35-year-old Jimmy Butler, Riley openly admitted during last week\u2019s end of season press conference<\/a> that he would be willing to take on an aging star who\u2019s \u201cthe right name\u201d with the right contract.<\/p>\n We can all guess who that name is: Kevin Durant. However, if the Heat pull up said deal, sacrifices will need to be made elsewhere, adding question of whether it\u2019s actually worth it.<\/p>\n The Miami Heat\u2019s cap sheet for 2025-26 becomes more precarious with Kevin Durant:<\/p>\n The Heat are in a suboptimal position: They are trying to star-hunt, but don\u2019t have very good assets with it. Not to mention, they\u2019re the 10th-best team in a conference that the consensus perceives to be \u201cwide-open\u201d for various reasons.<\/p>\n That only applies to good teams or teams currently in the hunt to contend. Miami, as currently constructed, is neither.<\/p>\n Could that change with Durant, whose market appears to be drying up? Perhaps! Let\u2019s examine some of the complications.<\/p>\n Unless a third team is involved, a two-team trade between Miami and Phoenix isn\u2019t as complicated as a Butler swap would\u2019ve been, since Durant carries value, unlike Bradley Beal\u2019s $53.7 million cap hit and incomprehensible no-trade clause attached.<\/p>\n However, Phoenix is still in the second apron, meaning they can\u2019t aggregate salaries or take back more than Durant\u2019s $54.7 million in a trade for him. For the sake of conversation, let\u2019s say the Heat acquired Durant for Andrew Wiggins (fourth-best trade asset), Nikola Jovic (second-best player under 23-years-old) and Duncan Robinson, who gives Phoenix some salary relief with his $19.8 million partially guaranteed contract. That gets the Heat up to $52.5 million, making this trade legal. Pick whatever 1-2 first-round picks you want.<\/p>\n However, Miami\u2019s three best players in this scenario\u2013Durant, Adebayo and Herro\u2013would allocate for roughly $123 million, or 79.8 percent of the projected $154.6 million salary cap. That\u2019s before you factor in potentially re-signing Mitchell, Terry Rozier\u2019s $24.9 million partial guarantee (that could be very difficult to move by itself), etc.<\/p>\n Assuming that Mitchell makes $10 million flat next year, those four would account for 85.9 percent of the cap, throw in Ware and it\u2019s 88.7 percent.<\/p>\n What if, instead of Wiggins, Mat Ishbia decides to take Rozier, a negative asset despite being on an expiring contract? A quintet of Herro-Wiggins-Durant-Adebayo-Ware would take up **checks notes** 100.5 percent of the team\u2019s cap ($155.4M) \u2026 for five players. That\u2019s it. Five. For over 100 percent of the cap. <\/p>\n We\u2019re staring in the face of a scenario where the Heat may have to either trade Tyler Herro, who\u2019s up for extension this offseason, or risk not being able to re-sign Mitchell, who blossomed in 30 games with the Heat after being acquired at the deadline. The former doesn\u2019t factor in the fact that not only has trading Herro been far more theoretical than practical (historically), but also the possible contracts that could be included in return. The latter, however, means you lose one of your most impactful players for nothing and are left with an incredibly expensive roster at the top.<\/p>\n If you retain all of the above, you\u2019d better get creative \u2026 or you\u2019re at risk of being an incredibly top-heavy roster, which doesn\u2019t work in today\u2019s NBA anymore. Let\u2019s look at some combinations for the percentage of cap that certain players allocate for:<\/p>\n Kevin Durant with no Herro, but Mitchell, Jovic and Ware:<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Davion ($8M cap hit, for perspective) + Jovic + Ware: 70,3%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Davion ($10M) + Jovic + Ware: 71.6%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Davion ($8M) + Jovic + Ware + HH: 73.9%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Davion ($10M) + Jovic + Ware + HH: 75.2%<\/p>\n Kevin Durant with no Davion, but add Herro in and shuffle Jovic, Haywood Highsmith and Jaime Jaquez Jr.:<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jovic + Ware: 85.2%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jovic + Ware + HH: 88.8%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jaquez + Ware: 84.8%<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jaquez + Ware + HH: 88.4%<\/p>\n Kevin Durant with Mitchell, Jovic and Jaquez:<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jovic + Ware + HH + Davion ($8M): 94.0%,<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jovic + Ware + HH + Davion ($10M): 95.3%,<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jaquez + Ware + HH + Davion ($8M): 93.6%,<\/p>\n KD + Bam + Tyler + Jaquez + Ware + HH + Davion ($10M): 94.9%<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth mentioning that most NBA teams operate over the cap, but the first apron is projected to be roughly $46.1 million above the cap, while the second apron is $53.2 million above. There\u2019s breathing room, but when you have to fill out a roster full of 14 players, the tighter you get, the more sturdy those avenues become.<\/p>\n Less is more, and more is less. The less the Heat would have to trade for Durant, the more bloated its cap sheet becomes\u2013limiting their flexibility to make other moves conducive to building a contender. The more it risks giving up, its cap sheet becomes better \u2026 but the team doesn\u2019t, and acquiring more viable replacements in free agency (likely at or near the minimum) or with whatever of their middling asset pool has left becomes difficult.<\/p>\n None of this is to say that Durant wouldn\u2019t help. He absolutely would. He\u2019s one of the best scorers any of us has ever seen.<\/p>\n But at what cost are you risking mortgaging the future and dumping more into a 37-win team that was emasculated inside their home building in the postseason without their third-best player \u2026 for a 37-year-old in the twilight of his career? <\/p>\n These are the questions that must be asked and answered if this is a route the Heat legitimately pursues. But the prevailing question will be: Who will be the sacrificial lamb(s) in order to make this construct somewhat appeasing?<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n To check out our other content, click\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter\/X\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n Subscribe to our YouTube channel\u00a0here<\/a>!<\/p>\n \t\t\t