The Miami Heat‘s top priority this offseason is to get Kevin Durant.
But if they miss out on the Phoenix Suns‘ 15-time All-Star, the Heat have a couple of fallback options.
One of them is Sacramento Kings’ six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan, according to Sacramento-based reporter James Ham.
“What we’ve heard in the past is DeMar DeRozan, number one, when he was choosing which team to go to last summer, one of his options was the Sacramento Kings, of course, which is where he ended up landing,” Ham said on “The James Ham and Kyle Madson Show” on ESPN 320. “But also, there was the possibility of him landing with the Miami Heat. I would say at this point, everything I’m hearing behind the scenes is that there is still interest in DeMar DeRozan from the Miami Heat, especially if they miss out on Kevin Durant.
Getty Former Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler controls the ball against DeMar DeRozan of the Sacramento Kings.
“If they land Kevin Durant, I think that all of this changes, right? But if they don’t end up with Kevin Durant, they’re still looking for that scorer that they lost when they traded Jimmy Butler. And so, I think the DeMar DeRozan situation will be revisited, and I think that they have plenty of things that are of interest for the Sacramento Kings.”
Heat’s 1st Round Pick on Kings’ Radar
On June 12, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported for “The Stein Line” Substack newsletter that the Kings have “expressed confidence to various agents that it could be selecting as high as the early 20s.”
The Heat own this year’s 20th pick, which they have received from Golden State Warriors as part of the Jimmy Butler return package.
DeRozan, 35, has two years left on his three-year, $74 million deal he signed before the was dealt to Sacramento last offseason.
Miami could potentially send Terry Rozier and the pick for DeRozan. The Kings, who are looking for a point guard gets a bonus on top of the Heat’s first round pick, taking a flier on a veteran point guard who was playing well in Charlotte before he lost his mojo in Miami.
Jonathan Kuminga is a Much Younger Fallback Option
Getty Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors dunks the ball on Kevin Love of the Miami Heat.
Aside from DeRozan, the Heat has another fallback option who is much younger than the Kings star.
Hoopshype’s Michael Scotto reported on June 16 that the Heat could acquire Warriors’ restricted free agent Jonathan Kuminga via sign-and-trade as their backup option.
“The Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat are two teams to monitor as potential sign-and-trade candidates for Kuminga, league sources told HoopsHype. With that in mind, the Warriors have also not ruled out the possibility of retaining Kuminga, sources said,” Scotto wrote.
Kuminga, 22, isn’t part of the Warriors’ immediate future. Butler’s arrival has eased him out of the rotation as Steve Kerr views them as virtually the same player. Butler, of course, is the much better and more experienced player suited for their win-now timeline.
With Kuminga and Butler crowding their spacing due to being a non-3-point threat, he was reluctant to play them together, which led to Kumimga’s demotion.
But Kuminga showed what he can do when given the opportunity during the last four games of their second-round loss in the playoffs. The 22-year-old forward averaged 24.3 points on 55.4% overall shooting and 38.9% from the 3-point line in what could be his final games in a Golden State uniform.
Kuminga fits the timeline of the Heat’s young core of Bam Adebayo (27), Tyler Herro (25), Jaime Jaquez Jr. (24), Nikola Jovic (22) and Kel’el Ware (21).
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