The NBA offseason has begun in earnest, with the contours for the first of what is expected to be a handful of blockbuster trades going down on Sunday: Bradley Beal is packing up from Washington and heading to Phoenix in a deal that brings a surprisingly scant return to the Wizards (Chris Paul, who will be bought out, as well as Landry Shamet and second-round picks).

While the Suns have amassed serious star power, with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker now teamed with Beal in a trio capable of averaging more than 75 points per game on their own, the question that lingers around the team is an obvious one: What now?

The Suns have those three stars under contract, and will pay them a combined $130 million next year, $152 million in 2024-25, and $162 million in 2025-26. Cameron Payne is under a partial guarantee for next season, but figures to be back.

Other than those four, the Suns have one contract on hand: The one belonging to Deandre Ayton, the No. 1 pick in 2018 who still has three years and $102 million on his deal. While trade interest in Ayton around the league has been tepid, sources say that is mostly because he is not yet among other teams’ top priorities, a situation that is expected to change after the NBA draft and perhaps after the first wave of free agency.

“There are teams that will come calling for him,” one NBA GM said. “The Suns know that. He is on the backburner but they’re ready to move him as soon as the right thing comes along. And at this point, if they can get a couple of really solid role players, that will be the right thing for them. That might not happen until we get into Summer League, though.”

Suns Need to Land Role Players With Ayton Trade

Given the limitations of the NBA’s collective-bargaining agreement, the Suns will have scant opportunities to add quality role players to their core. That’s where trading Ayton has now become a necessity, one that could bring the Suns a measure of salary relief as well as a more varied roster.

The Bulls and Mavericks have both been included as potential destinations for Ayton, though each of those teams has other priorities. The same can be said for the Hornets, who were tabbed as a darkhorse by league execs in the chase for Ayton. The Hornets’ most pressing issue is perhaps trading away the No. 2 pick in the draft, which could net a star caliber wing (Brandon Ingram of the Pelicans has been mentioned).

It would not be until after the situation with the second pick is cleared up that Charlotte will move forward with a decision on Ayton or any other big man. The Hornets have a number of trade chips, including the expiring contract of Gordon Hayward, and perhaps one of their two promising young big men, Nick Richards or Mark Williams. Guard Terry Rozier could be available, too.

The Pacers and Trail Blazers have also had interest in Ayton, but again, he is not the priority for either team.

Indiana could be the most amenable to making a trade for Ayton quickly, with veteran center Myles Turner the chief return piece (along with some combination of shooter Buddy Hield, big man Daniel Theis or point guard T.J. McConnell).

When Ayton was a restricted free agent last summer, it was the Pacers who finally gave him a four-year, $132 million contract that the Suns matched.

Patience May Be Required on an Ayton Trade

If the Suns can’t find the right package for Ayton in the next few days, the team remains confident it will find a new home for him, and that the roster will feature at least two role players added in an Ayton deal. Ayton, remember, is only 24, and turns 25 next month.

The Phoenix trade for Beal all but guaranteed Ayton’s exit.

“They need some guys who can do things besides score, and let’s face it, Ayton does a few things pretty well but scoring is the top thing,” one Western Conference executive said. “So if Phoenix brought him back, he is the No. 4 option, he is getting maybe 10, 11 shots a game. That’s not happening. There is a good chance you will see Indiana circle back and see if they can get him now, and not give up too much to make it happen. Ayton and (Tyrese) Halliburton? That would be a really nice combo.”

But even if that doesn’t shake out, something will.

“They (the Suns) are confident they can get something done,” the exec said. “Not everybody is going to get just what they want in the next two weeks in the draft and trades and free agency, and if Deandre is not already gone, he is going to look very good to a team like Portland or Charlotte or Dallas.”

There is something honorable, no doubt, in the path chosen by Wizards guard Bradley Beal. He has had multiple opportunities, in his 11-year NBA career, to force, push or nudge his way out of Washington, to look for a greener pasture where he’d be better set up to win.

He could have demanded a trade away from the Wizards back in 2019, when the team was coming off a 32-win showing, had dumped Ernie Grunfeld in favor of Tommy Sheppard and looked increasingly adrift. Instead, Beal signed a two-year extension, giving the Wizards time to get their house in order.

He could have sought a trade last year, too, but instead took a five-year, $251 million supermax deal from the Wizards that left him tethered to the organization for as long as the team wanted him there. Beal has shown loyalty to the Wizards organization, though he also admitted he did not have many other options.

The team reciprocated in the only way it could—short of being able to construct a winning roster around Beal, the team has instead paid him richly. It also has empowered him, with a no-trade caluse coming as part of that supermax deal.

But now, with the Wizards badly in need of a rebuild and new hoops honcho Michael Winger taking over the team’s roster, there has been talk of Beal and Washington parting ways. Ideally, it would happen quickly.

Things often down work out in ideal fashion, though. The Wizards are too late to trade Beal in hopes of getting a superstar package in return, but there is hope that he could yet rebuild value.

“They can’t hurry it,” one Eastern Conference general manager said. “If you’re talking about the market value, it’s as low as it has ever been on Brad. He only plays half your games and he is not playing at the same level he was. There is more risk if you are taking him right now than if you are Washington trading him away. Right now, you can get him for cap relief but you’re not going to a big package of picks.

“They’d be better off waiting, let him get on the floor and let him shine a little bit.”

Cap Relief Available to Wizards in a Beal Trade

If cap relief is all the Wizards are after, that won’t be hard to find. Beal is slated to make $46 million next season, and $50.3 million the year after that. In 2025-26, he will make $53.7 million, and has a player option for $57.1 million in the final year of his current deal.

He will be the fourth-highest paid player in the NBA next season.

If Beal wanted to go to Miami, the Heat could send out Kyle Lowry and Duncan Robinson, who are owed $87 million combined over the next three years (Lowry is in the final year of his contract). The Heat would not have to send out much more because (A) Beal has veto power over a trade and (B) the savings the Heat can offer might be as good as the Wizards could do for Beal.

The Clippers and Suns are other teams to watch for Beal, with payroll savings also being their chief bargaining chips. If a trade is to happen this offseason, the Wizards—and, by extension, Beal—have to count on one of those would-be contenders to be desperate enough to get Beal that they’ll find a way to load their offers with picks or young players.

With questions about Beal on the floor and bigger questions about how much he is being paid off it, a quick resolution here would not be in the Wizards’ best interests.

Health Has Been a Problem for Bradley Beal

It is no secret as to why Beal’s value has taken such a healthy blow: He can’t stay healthy. He has had wrist surgery twice, and has had persistent problems with his knees and hamstrings. After playing all 82 in back-to-back seasons from 2017-19, Beal missed seven games in 2019-20 and did not participate in the league Orlando bubble reset.

In his last three seasons, Beal has played in 150 of 236 games. The Wizards were decent enough when he played—73-77—but terrible when he was out, going 31-55. Along the way, Beal has seen his individual numbers slide, from 30.5 points per game in 2019-20 and 31.3 points in 2020-21, down to 23.3 points in each of the past two years.

Beal has been more averse on contact in his last two seasons, averaging just 4.8 free throws per game, well down from the 7.8 attempts he averaged the previous two years. Beal turns 30 next week, and there’s still some belief he can show he is healthy and bolster his trade value.

“If I was the one trading for him, I’d be a lot more comfortable doing it after I see him put together some healthy stretches, get his old scoring touch back, really show he is still an All-Star type of player,” the GM said. “Right now, if you trade for him, you are taking that as an article of faith. You’re hoping he can get back to being himself.

“I am not giving up three first-rounders for a hope. I want to see that he is still a guy who can go for 30 (points) and 10 (assists) on any given night.”

The New York Knicks have been linked with a potential trade to bring Kristaps Porzingis back to Madison Square Garden.

However, according to SNY’s Ian Begley, acquiring the former lottery pick would be a ‘significant commitment’ for the Knicks, thus making a potential deal seem unlikely as they look to maintain roster flexibility.

Porzingis has a $33.8 million player option for next season. The only way he’d turn the option down is if he had high enough confidence that another long-term offer was coming,” Begley wrote. “The prospect of bringing Porzingis back to New York on a long-term deal may look good on paper, but it would be a significant commitment for the Knicks, and it doesn’t seem like a path they’d go down at this time.”

Porzingis, 27, enjoyed a solid season for the Washington Wizards this year, averaging 23.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting 49.8% from the field, and 38.5% from deep.

Kristaps Pozingis Spoke Fondly of Time With Knicks

During a June 1 appearance on the Ariel Helwani Show, Kristaps Porzingis discussed his time with the Knicks and the way in which his tenure with the franchise came to an end.

“That was like my first love, the city of New York,” Porzingis said. “Playing in [Madison Square Garden], so of course I have not the best feeling when I get so much hate, but, as I said, [the relationship is] better. Of course, I can understand now how the fans could feel that way or how they viewed me at that time, and then I asked for a trade, and I get painted as the villain. But it is what it is.”

Knicks Unlikely to Extend Obi Toppin

According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, the Knicks could opt against offering Obi Toppin a contract extension this summer, thus allowing the explosive forward to become a restricted free agent in 2024.

“Toppin’s career has been spent as a low-minute backup behind Julius Randle,” Smith wrote on June 5. “There’s very much still a mystery box quality to his game. He’s flashed when given time, but those flashes aren’t extension-worthy … unless he’s traded ahead of the extension deadline.”

Toppin has struggled to find a consistent role since being drafted by the Knicks with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft, starting just 15 of his 201 regular-season contests. Still, Toppin has flashed moments of genuine upside, yet they have been few and far between.

This past season, the New York native played in 67 regular-season games, producing 7.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1 assist per game while shooting 44.6% from the field and 34.4% from deep.

Assuming the Knicks do decide not to offer Toppin a contract extension, the pressure will be on the forward to show significant improvement next season in order to try and maximize his earning potential on his next deal.

While the playoffs roll on, those left by the side of the NBA road try to find their way back onto the second round highway and beyond. A notebook:

The Raptors will soon be hiring a new coach, but the extent of the changes in Toronto could be much greater. The club finished with the No. 9 seed in the Eastern Conference then gave up 37 points on its home floor to lose a play-in game to Chicago.

Coach Nick Nurse soon departed, the final words of writing that had been on the wall for quite a while. The Raps have wanted to make roster changes, but have been stuck in neutral, unable to get as much as they want out of what they have and unable to get enough FOR some of those people in trade.

Fred VanVleet, who can opt out of his $22.8 million for next season and become a free agent, summed the team’s situation in a recent conversation with Heavy Sports.

“Talent by itself is just not good enough,” he was quoted as saying in a mid-April story. “You know, you’ve still got to do everything right every single day. You’ve got to be able to play as a team.”

As for his teammates not understanding what they could — and should — be accomplishing, VanVleet told Heavy, “I’ve been screaming it for two years, you know what I mean? I think that at a certain point you can’t make anybody grow up. It’s going to happen at their own pace and their own speed, and that’s the frustrating part about maturity and just the development stage is that you can harp on it all you want to.”

He’s not the only one dissatisfied with the matter.

“Masai (Ujiri) is really, really frustrated,” one general manager who has dealt with the Raptors said of the club’s president of basketball operations. “He’s frustrated with VanVleet also, because he hasn’t shown him any indication that he wants to stay. So I think he’s really down about that situation. Maybe it’s because everything’s still so fresh, but there’s a lot they have to get done there. It didn’t surprise anyone that Nick moved on.”

The GM then added, “I don’t know what they’re going to do, but I’ve been hearing that Washington is coming after Masai again.”

That would not be a surprise. The Wizards let Tommy Sheppard go after their 35-47 season, a fourth straight sub-.500 campaign since he took over the top spot in 2019.

But if Ujiri stays in Toronto, he will be shuffling the deck to some extent.

“There will be changes for sure; I have no idea to what extent,” said a league executive. “I don’t think they have that many pieces to trade that are that good, just because (Pascal) Siakam has one year left on a $38 million dollar deal. Same thing with OG (Anunoby), one year left ($18.6 million) and a player option. I just don’t know if they’re going to get much in return for those guys. I don’t know if the value is there. And they didn’t get value for OG this trade deadline either. Masai was holding out for a big package, and there was nothing there that he wanted. It’ll be interesting to see what happens there.”

Can the Clippers Be Salvaged?

There is uncertainty, as well, in Los Angeles, where the Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard for the last three games in a 4-1 first round loss to Phoenix. Paul George hadn’t played since March.

Can the Clips possibly convince themselves they can run it back with the same basic core and hope against the odds their health holds up this time? Do they have enough player capital to make significant changes/improvements?

A number of opposing execs told Heavy Sports they’re essentially looking over the crash to see if some parts can be salvaged.

“I’m not sure what they can do,” said one team leader. “They’re not going to get value for those guys (Leonard, George) in any sort of deals. They just miss too many games, and that’s ruined the culture. It’s ruined the culture of the Clippers. Not knowing from night to night if you’re going to have PG or Kawhi just killed them. They didn’t know who was playing on any given night. It’s a train wreck. They’ve got some really good character guys on their team, but the culture is bad.”

The Ben Simmons … Update?

But it could always be worse, at least in an individual sense. We leave you with this response from a Western Conference executive when asked about Ben Simmons:

“I gave up following that sumbitch a long time ago.”

Ouch.

For those who may be tardy to the party, the long-standing beef between Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie and Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma was reignited when the Nets star called out Kuzma during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” with Michelle Beadle. In response, Kuzma went on an insult-laced Twitter rant that went viral.

When asked about the exchange with his former teammate, Dinwiddie said that Kuzma’s response had “a lot of contradictions” but, all in all, he is ready to focus on the Nets’ first-round matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers.

“The funny part about it is there were a lot of contradictions. He resorted to name-calling: ‘Dins–ttie, things like that, which I haven’t heard since I was probably about 10 years old. Things of that nature. I think at the end of the day, the biggest piece here was it’s like a theory from 8-Mile, the way Eminem approached the final battle: If you approach it with truth, what do you have to hide,” Dinwiddie said to reporters on April 13 via Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News.

“There’s nothing there, right? So that’s probably the last time I’ll address that because I want to focus on Philly, the team, and what we’re doing. But at the end of the day, I spoke the truth and got rebutted with 10-year-old insults.”

Spencer Dinwiddie Compares Kyle Kuzma to Rick Fox

One of the talking points of Kuzma’s rant was about Dinwiddie’s journeyman career in the NBA.

“What in the world have you won in this league? Lol, you’ve been bounced around like a basketball, my boy,” he wrote in response to Dinwiddie.

In response to that particular point, Dinwiddie noted that just because he has taken a “unique” path does not mean his career accomplishments hold any less value. He also alluded to how “blessed” some players are to be a part of championship teams, which seemingly was aimed at Kuzma’s role on the 2020 Lakers championship squad.

“If we were gonna talk about my career and things that I’ve done that is unique and possibly different: I led a team to the playoffs when their max players were hurt back in 2020 averaging over 20 a game. So won a lot of games there. I’ve been to the Western Conference Finals with Luka Doncic and the Mavs. Been to the playoffs every year for the last five or six years,” Dinwiddie added.

“And then on top of that, I would say, some people are blessed to be in situations. We don’t get mad at Rick Fox for winning a championship with Kobe and Shaq. Like some people are blessed and that’s great, but we can’t act like Rick Fox led them to a championship.”

Doc Rivers Sounds off on Upcoming Series With Nets

After trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at the deadline, there were doubts about the Nets making it to the playoffs this year. Especially because much of their recoupment from the trades was future first-round draft picks. Despite their roster being devoid of an All-Star, the Nets have made it to the postseason without even having to participate in the play-in tournament.

The Nets will face a Sixers team in the first round with a surplus of star power with James Harden and MVP candidate Joel Embiid. But even with his team having the upper hand talent-wise, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers knows his team can’t take their foot off the gas against this Nets squad.

“They say you have to have stars to win a championship. They don’t say you have to have stars to win a series. There’s a big difference,” Rivers said of the upcoming playoff matchup via NetsDaily.

“You have to be ready. The playoffs are what makes you a star. There are probably three or four guys who when this whole season is over are gonna be stars that we don’t even know yet. Let’s hope we don’t create them.”

Former Los Angeles Lakers forward and current Washington Wizards star Kyle Kuzma issued a strong tweet about the purple and gold on April 11.

The swingman believes the Lakers can get to the NBA Finals this year.

The Lakers went 18-9 after the February trade deadline and finished the regular season with 43 wins. Los Angeles will face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 7-8 play-in game on April 11. The winner will be the seventh seed in the Western Conference and go up against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, while the loser will take on the winner of the 9-10 play-in game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder to determine who the eighth seed is.

“We’re just looking forward to the opportunity,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. “Starting where we started at earlier in the year, and now sitting where we find ourselves sitting, we’re excited. Guys are ready to go. We’ve got great synergy in our locker room. Need to clean up some stuff defensively, but outside of that, we’re ready to go.”

Darvin Ham: ‘I Just Think the Sky’s the Limit’

Ham believes the Lakers can make noise in the playoffs if they win one play-in game.

“I just think the sky’s the limit, man,” Ham said. “I think if we’re healthy and we get the team to pay attention to detail and continue to alleviate mistakes that may be a little repetitive and sustain the things we’re doing well, I think sky’s the limit. Any team with LeBron James and a healthy Anthony Davis, D’Lo, Dennis, Austin – all these guys – Vando … We’re not going to put a ceiling on our own selves.”

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers had the best record in the West after the trade deadline. Los Angeles acquired D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Mo Bamba.

“The Lakers’ goals are much loftier than a Play-In Tournament win,” Buha wrote on April 10. “They want to win a championship. They believe they can make a deep playoff run — their status as a No. 7 seed notwithstanding. Their recent play reinforces their confidence. For nearly one-third of the season, the Lakers’ new group has resembled a dark horse contender. Since Feb. 11, the Lakers have the best record in the West and the second-best win percentage in the league (.692) behind the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks. Los Angeles also has the sixth-best net rating overall and the second-best net rating in the West over that span.”

LeBron James on the Timberwolves: ‘We Know What We’re Getting Ourselves Into’

Lakers superstar LeBron James understands that he and his teammates have to be locked in on both ends of the floor against the Timberwolves, who went 2-1 versus the LakeShow during the regular season.

“It’s a challenge versus everybody and Minnesota is no different,” James said. “When you got guys like KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) and Anthony Edwards, those guys can both go for 40 against you. … You have a very cerebral, solid point guard in Mike Conley who’s been in multiple playoff games. So listen, we know what we’re getting ourselves into.”

After the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Washington Wizards on March 12, Wizards star Bradley Beal singled out Sixers star Joel Embiid for what went wrong for the Wizards in the second half.

“Embiid. He’s doing that to everybody, so. I mean, you gotta give up something, you know?” Beal told reporters after the game. “He’s going to bury you in the paint. He’s going to take our bigs out to the perimeter, put us in rotations because we got to double him or give him mid-range jumpers. We gave him mid-range [jumpers], and he hit them.”

Embiid put up a statline of 34 points thanks to his 12-for-18 shooting from the field as well as his 10-for-12 shooting from the free throw line in 31 minutes of playing time.

Though the Sixers pulled off a 112-93 victory, they have split their season series against the Wizards at 2-2.

Damian Lillard Calls Out Sixers

Portland Trail Blazers’ star Damian Lillard called out the Sixers for not supporting former Sixer Matisse Thybulle before they traded him to Portland.

Lillard explained to Justin Grasso of Sports Illustrated that a team having support for a player can be very helpful in their progression. He believes Portland has provided that since trading for Thybulle and does not believe Philadelphia did that.

“Sometimes you just need that support, you need that love, you need people to believe in you, and I’ve seen it make a world of difference for a lot of players,” Lillard said. “It’s hard being in this league fighting, trying to earn your stay, and you’re in an environment where people don’t believe in you. It just makes it that much harder. I just wanted to encourage (Thybulle) [and] show my belief in him.”

Thybulle’s role on the Trail Blazers is much bigger compared to the role he had with the Sixers before the trade. In 49 games with the Sixers this season, Thybulle averaged 12.1 minutes a game, compared to the Trail Blazers where he’s averaging 29 minutes a game in 12 games thus far.

At the same time, Portland has to decide if they want to keep Thybulle around for the long haul since he will be approaching restricted free agency this summer.

Joel Embiid & James Harden Sound Off on Road Trip

After beating the Wizards, the Sixers will start a road trip in which they will play seven of their next games away from Philadelphia, starting with their game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 15.

Embiid and James Harden opened up about their crucial stretch coming up to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer.

“We got to win those games,” Embiid said. “That’s a good test for the playoffs. You got to go out on the road and steal a couple. That’s our goal. Obviously, we’ve been good.

“We got a couple good tests coming up. So we just got to be ready and make sure everybody is on the same page.”

Harden vocalized his confidence for their upcoming road games, using their record on the road as proof.

“We’ve been pretty solid on the road all year long,” James Harden said, “so [it’s] one game at a time, and no matter who we’re playing, stick to what we do and try to be the best 76ers we can be.”

The Sixers have an away record of 19-12.

It’s been an extremely up-and-down season for the Golden State Warriors, who haven’t been able to improve their place in the standings for the majority of the year. As of now, they currently sit at 29-28, which is good for ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

They picked up a win on February 13 over the Washington Wizards. With Steph Curry sidelined, other players have been stepping up, and against Washington, those players were Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. After the game, Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. sent a message on Thompson.

“There were some good moments where we lost him in transition,” Unseld said via NBC Sports Bay Area. “He’s going to create a lot of separation and we have to have the discipline to minimize all the separation, to be a step ahead of the play. He’s at his most dangerous when he doesn’t have the ball, when he’s just moving and cutting.”

Obviously, Thompson has cemented himself as one of the greatest shooters of all time. However, after his two season-ending injuries, this is the first full season he’s played since returning. It took him a while to get back up to full speed, but he’s been starting to return to form.

Against the Wizards, he was second on the Warriors in the scoring column, behind only Wiggins. Thompson ended the night with 27 points, four rebounds, and five assists on 10-of-21 shooting from the floor and 4-of-13 shooting from behind the three-point line.

As for Wiggins, the Warriors star dropped a team-high 29 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists. He shot 12-of-22 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the arc.

Draymond Green Warns Jordan Poole

With Curry out, the Warriors need all hands on deck if they want to improve their playoff positioning. That includes Jordan Poole, who picked up his 10th technical foul of the season on February 11 against the Los Angeles Lakers. After the game, Warriors star Draymond Green, who has plenty of experience picking up techs, issued Poole a warning.

“I don’t want him to walk the line,” Green said via the LetsGoWarriors YouTube channel. “I think I’ve spoke about that before. It’s not really one you wanna walk. It’s a battle you can’t win. But every man is gonna speak for themselves when they feel the need to speak, and I support everybody having their voice if you wanna use it. … It is what it is. He gotta make sure he don’t get to 16 [technicals].”

Bob Myers Discusses Warriors Buyout Market Plans

As for the team’s plans to improve the roster further, Warriors GM Bob Myers revealed that the Warriors will look at potential options on the buyout market and see if there is anyone they think can help them this season.

“Yeah, we’ll have to look at the buyout market,” Myers said via the NBC Sports Bay Area & California YouTube Channel. “I think much like last year’s deadline, we moved forward with Looney and Draymond, who have kind of split minutes in the regular season. JaMychal, I guess is who you can call our other big. Last year, we also had a couple of non-traditional bigs. Nemanja Bjelica’s not in the NBA, so I can talk about him. He was a shooting big who did a nice job and was another good player that helped us. We hope that we have enough, but we’ll look and see.”

This October an NBA Executive told Heavy Sports that the Washington Wizards could potentially be looking to trade their star forward Kyle Kuzma, and an NBA Insider identified the Miami Heat as a potential landing spot if the Wizards did deal their star forward. Kuzma was acquired by Washington in 2021 when the Los Angeles Lakers traded for Russell Westbrook.

The 27-year-old forward is having a solid year for the Wizards averaging 20.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists. The October report that linked Kuzma to Miami speculated that it would be as part of Washington’s effort to accelerate their rebuild. On December 10, reporting from Bleacher Reports’ Eric Pincus stated that Kuzma could also be looking for a way out of Washington, what he wants in his next contract, and his desire to land in a big market somewhere else. 

“He [Kuzma] wants out,” an NBA source said. “He’s looking for over $20 million a season and in a big market [or with a contender].”

Kuzma’s skills could stack up nicely next to Heat center Bam Adebayo both offensively and defensively. It would also give the Heat added versatility. With both Adebayo and Kuzma, they could easily defend all five positions with size and speed. In Early December another league executive stated that the Heat had some frustration with Adebayo’s lack of consistency offensively, and having Kuzma could take some of the pressure off of Adebayo and Jimmy Butler. 

Past Kyle Kuzma Whispers for Miami Heat 

In October, an Eastern Conference Executive told Heavy Sports that the Heat is still looking to address their holes at the big man position. 

“They have known they have a hole there, and the first option was always, ‘Let’s see if we can fix it from within.’ They’re trying that with (Caleb) Martin, but that might be asking too much of him. Martin could wind up being a key to it because they can’t trade him until January because he just signed, but he has some value. They’ve tried to see what’s there for Duncan Robinson, but there really is not much of a market unless you get a team willing to play him for a year and try to flip his contract next summer. They tried with Phoenix for Jae Crowder, but Phoenix did not want Robinson,” an Eastern Conference Executive told Deveney. 

That led Deveney to the Wizards, who he believes are looking to deal Kuzma and fast-track their rebuild. Which led him to propose a deal of his own. 

Proposed Kyle Kuzma to Miami Trade

Looking at the Wizards likely approaching a rebuild, Deveney looked at the Heat’s roster and identified a trade that could likely work for both sides. 

Miami Heat Receive: Kyle Kuzma and Taj Gibson

Washington Wizards Receive: Duncan Robinson and a first-round pick (2027)

But why would the Wizards do this? It feels like a lopsided deal, especially with the role Robinson has played for nearly a year now for the Heat. 

“The Wizards have been loathe to rebuild as long as they have Bradley Beal on the roster, and perhaps that will continue. But should they begin looking to the future, Kuzma would find himself on the block. He is not the bruiser the Heat might like at power forward, but he’d add a scoring dimension to the position that the team lacks,” Deveney wrote. 

It would be hard to justify taking on Robinson’s $90 million contract to help start a rebuild, but perhaps if Kuzma wants out as reported he will put enough pressure on the Wizards to create a path out and open the door for the Heat to slide in and add another quality young scorer to their lineup.