Getty Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns, James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks.
Rumors in the NBA are undefeated. Less than 24 hours after the Miami Heat‘s season came to and end in the NBA Finals, reports have surfaced in regards to their next big move.
On June 13, Shams Charania of The Athletic and FanDuel TV reported that the Heat are looking to add another star player this summer. He teased the possibility of Miami chasing after Dallas Mavericks free agent star Kyrie Irving again this offseason, after they tried to trade for him ahead of the deadline this year.
“Just to give you a glimpse of what they’ve looked at over the last several months, they made an offer to the [Brooklyn] Nets for Kyrie Irving at the deadline from what I’m told, right before he got traded to the Mavericks before the deadline,” Charania said of Miami. “They’re going to explore seeing what the star market is out there… Do they circle back on Kyrie Irving?”
Though the Heat’s interest in the star guard is evident, it’s unlikely that they’d be able to find a way to bring him to town. In order for Irving to head to South Beach, the two sides would have to agree on a sign-and-trade, which Dallas has reportedly no interest in, according to Yahoo Sports’ Jake Fischer.
“That would require some cooperation from the Mavericks, who have so far signaled little willingness to entertain a possible sign-and-trade for Irving with the Lakers, sources said,” Fischer wrote.
Though his report was about Dallas not wanting to deal with the Lakers specifically, it’s tough to imagine that they’ll be eager to offload Irving, after making a push to land him back in February.
Kyrie Irving Previously Linked to Heat
This isn’t the first time that Irving’s name has been tied to Miami. Earlier this year, before he was traded to the Mavericks, an anonymous Western Conference general manager told Heavy Sports‘ Sean Deveney that the Heat will look to land the 10-time All-Star this summer. The difference was that there was speculation that he may just take a pay-cut to join the Heat, rather than garnering a sign-and-trade.
“Kyrie will have to decide what he wants to do next—does he want to pick where he wants to go and take a taxpayer exception (about $7 million) or does he want to make as much money as he possibly can? Because the Mavs will give him more than anyone else will, so if that is the decision, then it is pretty simple,” the source explained to Deveney. “But, we have seen how Kyrie is with teaming up with players. Could he take $7 million to go play with LeBron and the Lakers, or take $7 million to play in Phoenix? Miami was interested, too. They would be again. Sure, he has said that money is not that important and this would be how he could show it, I suppose.”
Irving will almost certainly cost whichever team he signs with more than $7 million.
Heat Will Likely Be Priced Out of the Kyrie Irving Sweepstakes
Heading into the summer, Miami is projected to be about $62 million over the salary cap, per Spotrac, meaning that their options will be limited when it comes to landing free agents.
Plus, it was reported that Irving and the Mavericks had a “handshake agreement” on a new deal, prior to his move to Dallas. That report was said to be untrue, but a later report from NBA Insider Marc Stein indicates that Irving intends to stay with the Mavs, who have more money to pay him than Miami.
“Yet two sources close to the process insisted Monday that Irving has consistently expressed a desire to remain a Maverick and actually wants to shut down the notion that he’s angling to get to L.A.,” Stein wrote on June 5. “‘He wants to stay,’ said one source. The clear signals Monday out of Dallas suggest that the Mavericks believe that. With or without a LeBron reunion.”
