NBA rumors: Miami Heat to pursue Kevin Durant heavily

Although it may seem like a long-shot, the Miami Heat are expected to heavily pursue Kevin Durant this summer and try to lure him to South Beach. 

With the NBA salary cap set to rise by more than $20 Million next season, teams are beginning to think big in terms of signing free agents, and there is no bigger impending free agent than Thunder superstar Kevin Durant, who becomes one this summer.

Durant has been linked to either re-signing with the Thunder or going back home and signing with the Washington Wizards. The Miami Heat have been a third wheel team in the hunt for Durant’s services for a while now, and according to the Miami Herald, there are some that say the Heat will heavily pursue him this offseason in an attempt to lure him to playing in Miami.

For the Heat to sign Durant, however, it would require a few things to happen beforehand. Dwayne Wade would have to take a pay cut for the 2016-17 season. Currently he is making $20 million, and for the Heat to sign Durant, Wade would have to take less than $10 million a year because Durant will command between something between $23-25 million per year.

Another dilemma they have is the impending free agency of their young star center, Hassan Whiteside. Whitside has taken the league by storm and is going to command a lot of money this summer. The Heat will have to either convince Whiteside to take under $10 million a year to stay with them (which is doubtful), or let him walk if they want to bring Durant on board.

There a lot of variables that need to be solved first before the Heat can actually go out and sign Durant, but never count out Pat Riley. He’s not going to just sit back and not try to recruit Durant into coming to South Beach and playing for the Heat. The Heat, however, have to figure things out with Whiteside and Wade first before they pursue Durant.