This week, news came out that Kyrie Irving may want to leave the Brooklyn Nets, and that he may ask the team to trade him.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, and New York Knicks have been discussed as the most likely suitors for Irving.
Now, prominent NBA reporter Marc Stein has said that the Miami Heat have “some level of interest” in going after the talented but enigmatic guard.
Miami is believed to have some level of interest in joining the chase for Kyrie Irving, per @TheSteinLine pic.twitter.com/bJNqK5JYdI
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 22, 2022
It still seems unlikely at the moment that Brooklyn will actually cave in and trade its star guard, but anything is possible.
The Heat are coming off a playoff run that took them to the brink of a second NBA Finals appearance in three years, and they clearly need more offensive firepower if they’re to take the final step and win their first championship since LeBron James was their main man.
Acquiring Irving could represent that final step.
Irving Would Drastically Improve The Heat’s Offense
Over the last three seasons, Miami has been one of the NBA’s better teams thanks to their intense defense, 3-point shooting, and the clutch heroics of team leader Jimmy Butler.
During that span, it has never ranked higher than 15th in points per game, and it has been one of the league’s slowest-paced teams.
As a result, the team gets off to slow starts all too often, and at times it simply looks anemic.
During the Eastern Conference Finals versus the Boston Celtics, the Heat had a profound lack of scoring threats, especially with guard Tyler Herro, the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year, out for three games due to an injury.
They ended up scoring under 100 points in three of the series final four games, and in Games 3 and 4 they were only able to muster 82 and 80 points, respectively.
Defense may win championships, but offense is equally important, and teams can only go so far in this day and age with a great defense and an offense that is lacking.
Irving Could Bring Home The Hardware
The Heat have the defense, they have the culture, they have good role players, they have a great coach in Erik Spoelstra and they have a great closer in Butler.
They just need another star.
If the Heat landed Irving, they would have someone who could go at opposing defenses early and often, force the issue in transition and get them many more easy baskets and take pressure off his teammates.
Like Butler, Irving is also one of the game’s premier crunch-time performers, and both of them would cause many headaches for opposing coaches when close games are decided.
I present my case for Kyrie Irving on the Miami Heat. pic.twitter.com/cFZhRn98ZO
— Austin Konenski (@Austin_Kone05) June 20, 2022
The North Jersey native averaged 27.4 points and 5.8 assists a game this season, and having won an NBA championship six years ago with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he knows what it takes to win the sport’s biggest prize.
Of course, there are always questions about how committed he is to playing basketball full-time, but if he is fully committed, he would be just what Miami needs to win its fourth world championship.
Don’t count on Irving landing in Miami (ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has said the Lakers are the biggest threat to land him), but don’t necessarily rule it out either.
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