3 reasons why the Miami Heat should trade for Kevin Durant

3. The Miami Heat don’t have time to lose.

Let’s face it: Miami’s title window slams shut as soon as Butler loses a step. Whereas other contenders, like Boston and Memphis, may have concerns about jettisoning young talent for an aging, injury-prone star like Durant, Miami is solely concerned with the next two years or so.

Much of the Heat’s current rotation is young, but most of those players would have to be moved in any trade for Durant. Butler and, hopefully, Bam would be the key remaining pieces, but for as great as Adebayo is, he doesn’t project to be the sort of offensive anchor you need to supplement Jimmy as he ages.

Butler has proven he’s as potent an offensive force in the playoffs as anyone in the league, but in both 2020 and 2022, Miami couldn’t muster enough scoring around him to get over the hump. A healthy Durant is the offensive answer to any question Miami’s roster might ask.

Butler’s not the only one getting long in the tooth. Pat Riley turns 78 next season. There have been rumors circulating about his retirement for ages, and there has to be a limit to how long he can keep working at this level. Riley undoubtedly wants to go out on top, and he will do anything in his power to give his team a chance at another championship. He’s always been a star hunter, and there aren’t many stars brighter than Durant.

Given Miami’s success at picking up players on the margins and turning them into productive NBA players and the allure of South Beach for ring-chasing veterans, filling out the rest of the gutted roster would be doable. A Durant/Butler/Adebayo core might be the best two-way trio in the entire league.

Miami’s current core doesn’t have much time left with or without Durant, as Kyle Lowry turns 37 this coming year. Even role players the Nets likely wouldn’t want, like Victor Oladipo and Dewayne Dedmon, are on the wrong side of 30. Pat Riley has never been scared to push all his chips into the middle of the table.

We’ll have to wait and see if the pot is enough to get Brooklyn’s attention.