The Miami Heat reportedly tried to acquire Kyrie Irving before the NBA trade deadline last season, and it’s possible they could try again to add the superstar this offseason.
“Just to give you a glimpse of what they’ve looked at over the last several months, they made an offer to the [Brooklyn] Nets for Kyrie Irving at the deadline from what I’m told, right before he got traded to the [Dallas] Mavericks before the deadline,” NBA insider Shams Charania said.
Irving was traded by the Nets to the Mavericks ahead of the Feb. 9 trade deadline. His arrival in Dallas did not produce the results the Mavericks were hoping for, and they failed to make the playoffs and actually were fined for tanking at the end of the season to maintain a top-10 draft pick.
The Heat, on the other hand, went all the way to the NBA Finals, which ended with a Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday. Miami made only one very minor trade approaching the deadline and instead held onto the players who helped fuel a surprising playoff run.
Irving has again been a familiar topic in the NBA rumor mill so far this spring, with reports saying he might reunite with LeBron James either with the Mavericks or Los Angeles Lakers. The Houston Rockets may be looking to spend some of their large cap space on the 31-year-old if they can’t acquire James Harden. For Irving’s part, the impending free agent reportedly wants to stay with the Mavericks and pursue a championship in Dallas.
Miami fell short of a title against a superior Denver team in the Finals. The Heat got exceptional play from many of their role players during their playoff run, but they reportedly may now pursue a strategy of using another star to team with Butler and Adebayo instead.
There is expected to be a substantial amount of player movement this offseason that could lead to a “major reset” for the league. Damian Lillard is another top talent who could be on the market, and he has already expressed an interest in the Heat if the Portland Trail Blazers are willing to trade him. But there was also a report that came out recently that said Lillard is “actively” trying to get players to join him in Portland.
Whatever happens this NBA offseason, it looks like fans of the Heat can expect their team to be involved whenever a big name is mentioned.