The Miami media has recently begun to speculate as to whether a Heat reunion with LeBron James might actually be a possibility ahead of his record 23rd NBA season, though it’s a polarizing take to be sure.
Members of the Dan LeBatard Show, specifically its namesake host and part-time co-host/Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote, laughed off the possibility on the Tuesday, July 16 edition of their DraftKings-sponsored podcast as wishful thinking on the part of local media. However, it’s not as unrealistic as the two longtime South Florida personalities’ dismissive reactions implied.
James is clearly at odds with the Los Angeles Lakers over that franchise’s intention to focus on the summers of 2026 and 2027 as roster-building opportunities around 26-year-old superstar Luka Doncic, for whom the Lakers traded in February via a move that shocked James as much as it did the rest of the league.
After James opted into the $52.6 million player option on his contract for 2025-26, he surrendered much of the leverage he might have otherwise had by signing an extension and using the threat of his departure to force the front office’s proverbial hand on immediate talent acquisition.
Zach Lowe of The Ringer floated a potential trade scenario earlier this week built around Heat center Kel’el Ware, which Lowe contended could make sense for all parties. Just a few days prior, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra called Ware out publicly for a lack of professionalism during summer league play.
Spoelstra’s comments have subsequently fanned the flames of a possible deal reuniting James and the Heat ahead of the four-time MVP’s age 41-campaign.
Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra Called Out Kel’el Ware at NBA Summer League
Getty Kel’el Ware of the Miami Heat.
“A big part of this is [Ware] has to really embrace and improve his professionalism, his consistency, his approach every single day,” Spoelstra said. “He has to get better with that. It’s learning how to become a pro.”
Mike-Ryan Ruiz, a former executive producer and continuing contributor to LeBatard’s podcast, put Spoelstra’s comments in context from a Heat fan’s perspective.
“That’s really not something that you want to hear weeks after the fanbase is frustrated that they didn’t acquire Kevin Durant,” Ruiz said Tuesday. “One of the rumored places that they wouldn’t go, the bridge too far, was adding Kel’el Ware to the mix. And two weeks later to have your head coach who very rarely says things like that saying, ‘He needs to improve his approach to the game. He needs to approve aspects of his game.’ It makes you wonder aloud, ‘You know who doesn’t? Kevin Durant. What are we doing here?’”
If Miami did, in fact, make an error by choosing not to include Ware in a bid for Durant, the franchise may have a chance to correct that by making him the centerpiece in an offer to Los Angeles for James.
“There’s a Heat reunion trade that kind of actually makes some sense for both sides. They have salary attached to decent players. They have a young rim-running center that Luka can grow with in Kel’el Ware,” Lowe said Monday. “[Tyler] Herro plus LeBron plus Bam [Adebayo] … I’m not closing any doors.”
Heat Trade Package of Normal Powell, Andrew Wiggins, Kel’el Ware Can Work for Lakers
GettyNorman Powell of the Miami Heat.
A trade that works both short-term and longterm for both squads involves Ware, Andrew Wiggins and the recently acquired Norman Powell.
The Lakers don’t want to weigh themselves down with money beyond next summer, unless that money is connected to a player who makes sense for them in the Doncic era of championship contention. Ware — who is entering the second season of his four-year, $20.5 million rookie contract — fits the bill just fine.
Powell averaged 21.8 points per game last season and is playing on a $20.5 million expiring contract in 2025-26. He can replace a considerable amount of the offense L.A. would lose by trading James, helping to keep the Lakers competitive around Doncic this season while not hamstringing their ability to chase the biggest of fish a summer or two down the line.
Wiggins has two years remaining on his $109 million deal, but the $28.2 million he will earn this year would probably need to be a part of any James trade to make the money work. Wiggins’ contract, along with those of Powell and Ware, puts the Heat within half a million dollars of James’ 2025-26 compensation level.
He would add money to the Lakers’ books beyond this season, though Wiggins would become a $30.2 million expiring contract next year that Los Angeles could use in a trade. And a trade is the only way that L.A. could acquire a superstar under contract — such as Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks, for instance.
James was a second-team All-NBA selection last season at age 40, and Miami could feasibly compete for an NBA Finals appearance next year in an injury-weakened Eastern Conference by creating a Big 3 of James, Adebayo and Herro.
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