Rumors are circulating that Kevin Durant will be traded from the Phoenix Suns in due time. If true, the 15-time All-Star will find his fifth career home. Would it make sense for the Miami Heat to trade for one of the more recognizable names in today’s game? Not so fast.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reports Kevin Durant is expected to be traded in the coming weeks. Durant turns 37 this year, so any team that wants him will be intrigued by his star value and championship pedigree. Any team that acquires Durant’s services this offseason will rely on his production to stay consistent.

For the 2024-25 season, Durant averaged 26.6 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 4.2 APG on 52.7% shooting. Durant has been reliable when he’s been on the floor. Since he left the Warriors in 2019, he’s only played 70+ games once (75 games in 2023-24). If you get a healthy and motivated Durant, he is still one of the best players in the NBA and can emulate his MVP campaign from 2014.

Zach Lowe suggests the Miami Heat could be a team to take the risk on an aging Durant. Lowe suggests the Heat could get involved to pair Kevin Durant with Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro while sacrificing their young stars, like Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jovic.

It would obviously take more than Jaquez Jr. and/or Jovic to process a deal for Kevin Durant. For the short term, giving up both of these stars would make sense and ideally improve this Heat squad.

Jaquez Jr. averaged 8.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.5 APG on 46.6% shooting in 2024-25. Jovic averaged 10.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.8 APG on 45.6% shooting this season.

At first glance, it’s a no-brainer. Add both with a couple of draft picks and maybe an additional player (Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier, etc.). If Phoenix bites, great. If not, nothing has changed in the 305.

While Kevin Durant is a better player than Jaquez and Jovic combined, Durant is not the answer.

Since his Golden State run, Durant has been the centerpiece of superteams that have not panned out. Durant had a span in Brooklyn with Kyrie Irving and James Harden that went nowhere, playing in only 16 games together. The superteam in Phoenix with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal was almost as bad, playing in less than 50% of the games together in a two-year span.

For a team to acquire Durant, hoping he’ll be the centerpiece of a championship run, is a theory that has faded into obscurity. Durant has proven time and time again that he can’t be the alpha male to elevate a contending team. The only saving grace would be he moves back to the Eastern Conference, but even his time in Brooklyn was lackluster, and the East was even weaker back when he was with the Nets in 2019-2023.

Another reason is his age versus the potential of the assets Miami would give up. Durant will be 37 before the new league year starts, and could retire before he’s 40. He’s also set to be a free agent next offseason after making $54.7 million this year. This trade could be a one-year rental if Durant doesn’t fall in love with Miami, while you give up young upstarts in Jaquez, Jovic, and first-round selections that could help this Heat team in the future.

The Oklahoma City Thunder traded away the likes of Kevin Durant and their veteran superstars in order to rebuild their team, and are now in the NBA Finals, thanks to their plan. Teams that have acquired aging stars like Kevin Durant are not typically playing in June.

It’s tempting to acquire Kevin Durant, sell the jerseys, and see ticket sales skyrocket. It’s tempting to see what Kevin Durant could do if Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo were a second- and third-team option, respectively. But acquiring Durant is not going to buy a championship, it will set this Heat organization back even further by sacrificing the youth.