On Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz traded away veteran Patrick Beverley to the Los Angeles Lakers for young prospect Talen Horton-Tucker.
That move sparked a new round of rumors and whispers that the Jazz are indeed going to start a rebuild and trade away star guard Donovan Mitchell to do so.
Despite the fact that the Miami Heat are on Mitchell’s list of preferred destinations, the team is seen as an unlikely landing spot at the moment.
“Mitchell hasn’t asked for a trade from the Jazz, according to sources,” Tony Jones of The Athletic wrote. “But, if he were to be traded, sources say, his preferred destination would be one of three places: the [New York] Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, or the Miami Heat. Mitchell can’t be traded to the Nets as long as Ben Simmons is on the roster, which makes that destination unlikely, and now even more unlikely with Kevin Durant staying put. The Heat simply don’t have the assets that the Jazz are looking for, which makes that destination unlikely. The Knicks have the assets that the Jazz seek, which has made them a natural potential trade partner.”
It’s too bad that the Heat seemingly don’t have the kinds of assets that the Jazz covet because Mitchell seems like the kind of player that would thrive in Miami’s team culture.
He’s a hard worker and ultra competitive. He also has a rather strong relationship with Heat icon Dwyane Wade and current Heat star Bam Adebayo.
In fact, the Heat were mentioned as a “smart” landing spot for Mitchell due to his connection with Wade. Unfortunately, that won’t be enough to get the Jazz to send him to Miami, and right now, it is looking like the Knicks are the clear frontrunners in the Mitchell sweepstakes.
This offseason has been a bit of a disappointment for the Heat. First they missed out on re-signing P.J. Tucker, who opted to sign a multiyear deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. Now, it looks like the Heat are going to miss out on adding either Kevin Durant or Mitchell.
At times throughout the offseason, it seemed like the Heat had the inside track to either star.
Now, unless something unforeseen takes place, the Heat will likely head into the 2022-23 regular season with the roster they currently have.