The Miami Heat came within arm’s reach of the ultimate NBA goal this season, falling short in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.
But before that electrifying run through the playoffs, Heat decision-makers were apparently cooking something else up at the trade deadline.
Miami made an offer to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving at this season’s trade deadline, Shams Charania reported on FanDuel TV.
“[They’re] trying to get Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo another piece to take the load off,” Charania said Tuesday. “This Heat team, they made a great run this postseason…they feel like they may be one piece away.”
The Heat, Charania said, are in the market for a superstar this offseason, and he hinted at the possibility of the team making another run at Irving this summer.
Irving was dealt to the Mavericks in a blockbuster trade in February that sent Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, and a package of draft picks back to Brooklyn.
The Mavericks, who laid their season’s hopes on the shoulders of Luka Doncic and Irving, crashed and burned.
Dallas finished 38-44 and missed the playoffs entirely, beaten to the last spot in the play-in tournament by the Oklahoma City Thunder, who entered the season without serious playoff aspirations.
Following their season’s disastrous ending, rumors about Irving’s future have swirled as the free-agent guard has been linked to the Lakers and Rockets.
He’s even tried to lure former teammate LeBron James to Dallas.
For Miami, Irving would provide a much-needed boost to the Heat’s lackluster regular-season offense, which ranked 25th in the league in offensive rating.
The Heat advanced to The Finals after an improbable run as the No. 8 seed that relied on their depth and tenacity, but fell short in the championship as their offense sputtered, only scoring over 100 points once in five games.
Charania added that Miami’s offer would likely include former Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Herro and the team’s future first-round draft picks.