Brooklyn Nets small forward Kevin Durant is one of the biggest names on the trade market. When Kyrie Irving opted into the final year of his contract and committed with the Nets, most people expected the rumors surrounding Durant to stop. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN recently broke the news that KD has requested a trade from the Nets.
As of now, several teams that want to boost their chance of winning the NBA championship title next season have already expressed a strong interest in acquiring Durant from the Nets.
One of the teams where Durant reportedly wished to be traded is the Miami Heat. If KD is interested in taking his talent to South Beach, Heat president Pat Riley will surely not let the opportunity pass to add him to their roster.
However, the Heat would need to come up with an intriguing trade package to convince the Nets to send Durant to Miami. According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Nets are expected to request a trade package centered on Bam Adebayo in the potential Durant-Heat blockbuster trade.
Trading Adebayo would be a tough decision for the Heat, but it would be worth it to acquire a player of Durant's caliber. Though they would miss Adebayo's interior presence, adding Durant would significantly improve the Heat's offense and boost their chances of dominating the Eastern Conference and potentially winning the NBA championship next season.
Durant would give the Heat a reliable scoring option alongside Jimmy Butler, as well as a great rebounder, on-court facilitator, defender, and floor spacer. Last season, he averaged 29.9 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.4 assists while shooting 51.8 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from beyond the arc.
The proposed blockbuster deal with the Heat would make great sense for the Nets. With the team on the verge of losing both Durant and Irving this summer, the Nets are highly likely to consider a full-scale rebuild. There's no better way to start a rebuilding process than swapping their injury-prone veteran for a young star like Adebayo. At 24, Adebayo could still become the centerpiece of the next title-contending team that the Nets will try to build in Brooklyn.
A trade package centered on Adebayo is undeniably an excellent return for the Nets. However, it would force them to make a tough decision on Ben Simmons, whom they acquired from the blockbuster deal that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers before the 2022 NBA trade deadline.
As Fischer noted in his article, the Nets can't keep both Simmons and Adebayo since they both signed Designated Rookie Scale Player Extension. Per league rules, a team can't keep two designated rookie-scale-contract players acquired via trade.