The Miami Heat held back in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, leading to the Houston Rockets swooping in and acquiring Durant from Phoenix. The Suns’ asking price was too high for Miami, but does Pat Riley want to blow this team up?

We recently detailed why it wouldn’t make sense for the Miami Heat to pursue Kevin Durant at the expense of depth and their young core. Pat Riley clearly listened and the Heat faithful should be thankful for that.

After the Durant news broke, Shams from ESPN reported the Miami Heat “wouldn’t include Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic, Haywood Highsmith, No. 20 overall pick, or other draft assets in [the] deal for Kevin Durant.”

So are these players movable in deals to help the team? Are there other players on the roster who might be better suited in a deal?

JAIME JAQUEZ JR.

Earlier this month, we theorized Jaime Jaquez Jr. could be a potential asset in the Kevin Durant trade. On paper, Jaquez’s stats from this previous season don’t compare to Durant, who is a natural shooter. Jaquez averaged only 8.6 points per game.

Jaquez Jr. is more than just another rotational player, but he was drafted from UCLA for fitting into the Heat culture. Jaquez Jr. is the type of player who wants to make the nose-dive plays, go hard on defense, and do whatever it takes for the team to win. Not only would any team want his services, but Miami needs to keep a young Jaime to continue developing into a big-time player, especially since he ended the regular season with a career-high 41 points in 41 minutes, to go along with 10 rebounds and 7 assists.

What should the Heat do with Jaquez? KEEP

NIKOLA JOVIC

Nikola Jovic was the other name thrown out by others in the Kevin Durant deal that never went through, but the Heat are really high on Jovic and his potential, possibly since his name closely resembles a 3-time league MVP from the Denver Nuggets, Nikola Jokic.

Jovic has been spotty at times. He can have a very efficient shooting night, while other times you hardly know he’s on the floor. At some point this season, Spoelstra was struggling with getting Jovic significant playing time due to effort, but it appears Jovic earned his way back into the rotation.

Jovic is a promising prospect at a fresh 22 years of age that could go either way. It’s hard to pass on his talent, but if there was a younger talent to go in hopes of acquiring more immediate help in a matured player, Jovic might be the one to center the package around.

What should the Heat do with Jovic? SHIP as a centerpiece.

HAYWOOD HIGHSMITH

Highsmith is someone who finds the floor for

Miami, but not enough to garner attention from the rest of the association. In 5 career seasons at the NBA level, Highsmith just achieved his career-high scoring average at 6.5 points per game this season. Highsmith also set a record for playing time with 24.6 minutes per game.

These statistics don’t raise the eyebrows of intrigue, but this makes one ponder if we have seen Highsmith’s ceiling at age 28.

Highsmith will have plays that show off his effort defensively, which could help him find time in the lineup when Spoelstra feels another one is lacking, but Highsmith has shown he can only do so much.

If you could include Highsmith in a package for someone who could contribute double-digit scoring, you would have to easily jump on it.

What should the Heat do with Highsmith? TRADE and don’t look back.

#20 OVERALL PICK

We shared this past week what the Miami Heat should do with the 20th pick in Wednesday’s NBA Draft. Whether it be a point guard or taking a chance on another Marquette product in Kam Jones, the Heat have decisions to make with that pick.

This pick isn’t as enticing as the pick the Heat would have originally possessed if they had not made the play-in tournament. Before playing into be the 8-seed of a first-round sweep against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat had the 11th-best odds that helped the Dallas Mavericks land the #1 pick and Cooper Flagg. Would the lottery balls have fallen Miami’s way if they had these odds? Who knows, but that’s not the world the Heat front office lives in right now.

If you look at Oklahoma City, the new NBA Champions were built on draft picks. The more, the better! I think we have left the world where giving up draft capital for aging superstars is a smart move. Unless this were a can’t-miss and help for both the short and long-term futures of the Miami Heat, I wouldn’t trade this pick. I love the idea of the Heat getting a culture fit and building around them. Kel’el Ware showed flashes of promises as a rookie, so I believe the right guy can fill a need for the Heat and grow with Tyler Herro.

What should the Heat do with the #20 pick? KEEP and add to the young core.

MISCELLANEOUS TRADE ASSETS

Obviously, the Miami Heat didn’t feel comfortable including these in a package deal for Kevin Durant. That doesn’t mean the Heat won’t listen to any offers for these players, but it just wasn’t right for Durant at this stage in his career.

It almost sounds silly to include Tyler Herro or Bam Adebayo in any deal, leaving the rest of the team on some scale of “we’ll listen to the offer” being between “absolutely not” or “we’ll pay you to take him off our hands.”

Three names to watch out for are Andrew Wiggins, Duncan Robinson, and Terry Rozier.

Wiggins came over in the Jimmy Butler deal, but his versatility could be enticing for another team. He’s not a player to build around in Miami, but he might be trade bait to move completely on from the Jimmy Butler era.

Robinson is the franchise’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, and while his defense is improved, it can be a liability. If Duncan were on a team-friendly deal, this would be an easier decision for Miami to retain his services. However, in a league dominated by 3-point shooting, Robinson would elevate a team’s chances at a title run.

As for Terry Rozier, the Heat would be happy to get rid of their failed trial run after acquiring Rozier from Charlotte at the 2024 NBA trade deadline.

There are a lot of scenarios that could shake things up for Miami in the coming days. But one thing is for sure: Miami did not have a package ready to bring Kevin Durant to South Beach.