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Heat Expected to Pursue Kings Star if Kevin Durant Plan Fails

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Nathaniel Holloway | Last updated Jun 18, 2025 6:53 PM ET

The NBA offseason is quickly approaching and one team that has some key decisions to make is the Sacramento Kings.

Sacramento failed to make the playoffs after they finished ninth in the Western Conference and were eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament.

Due to this, the Kings now have a major decision to make regarding their roster as they could elect to begin a rebuild or just retool their roster.

Either way, Sacramento is expected to move on from at least one of their star players in Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan or Zach LaVine.

One team has emerged as a potential trade suitor for DeRozan after a report came out on Wednesday.

According to Kings insider James Ham, the Miami Heat are expected to show interest in DeRozan this offseason if they are unable to land Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns.

The Miami Heat are expected to show interest in DeMar DeRozan if they don’t land Kevin Durant, per @James_HamNBA

The Kings have been telling agents there’s a ‘high possibility’ they could pick early in the 20s — Miami owns pick 20 pic.twitter.com/9Mx8DcrpA8
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 18, 2025

Of course, it has been reported that the Heat are one of Durant’s preferred landing spots this summer but the Suns have not been intrigued by any of their offers thus far.

The Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets are 15-time All-Star Kevin Durant's preferred trade destinations out of Phoenix, sources tell ESPN. Those across the NBA have been made aware in recent days that those are the three teams that Durant would commit to long-term. pic.twitter.com/Hqn5hDaWxC
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 15, 2025

Because of this, Miami could end up shifting their focus to DeRozan and it is likely that the Kings would want the Heat’s 20th overall pick in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft in a potential trade.

For the Heat, adding DeRozan would give them a star forward that would be a great backup plan if they are unable to land Durant as he would provide them with another great scorer next to Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.

A trade would also make sense for Sacramento, especially if they are able to land Miami’s first-round pick in the upcoming draft since the Kings do not currently own a first-round pick.

Despite this, the Kings would likely also want one of Miami’s young players in a potential trade and with the Heat unwilling to meet Phoenix’s asking price for Durant, they may also not be willing to meet Sacramento’s for DeRozan.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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