Heat swingman Max Strus said during a visit to a local youth camp on Tuesday that he’s “excited” about the club’s current roster, but acknowledged he has heard the rumors about the possibility of Miami acquiring a star player like Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell, per Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.
As Winderman notes, it’s possible that if the Heat were able to make a trade for a star, Strus would be included in the outgoing package. While Strus admitted that there’s some uncertainty about his future, he said he’s trying not to think about it until “something happens,” adding that he certainly understands why the team would be motivated to find a way to trade for a player like Durant.
“How can you not want a guy like Kevin Durant?” Strus said. “He’s a once-in-a-generation type player and great player in the game and one of the best of all time. I’m excited to see what happens and I hope the best for him and the best for our team. That’s all that really matters.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Because the Nets can’t acquire Bam Adebayo as long as Ben Simmons is on their roster due to the designated rookie rules, there hasn’t been much discussion about whether the Heat would even be willing to part with Adebayo in a hypothetical Durant deal. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald explores that topic and speaks to a pair of scouts who both say they’d be comfortable parting with Adebayo to land Durant if the Simmons conflict wasn’t an issue.
- After Miles Bridges was formally charged with felony domestic abuse in Los Angeles County on Tuesday, the Hornets issued a brief statement on the situation: “We are aware of the charges that were filed today against Miles Bridges. These are very serious charges that we will continue to monitor. As this is a legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time.” The Hornets still have a qualifying offer out to Bridges, but his restricted free agency is unlikely to be resolved before the two sides get a clearer sense of how his legal case may play out.
- In his latest mailbag, Josh Robbins of The Athletic explores a handful of Wizards-related topics, including the trade value of the team’s young players and how willing the front office would be to trade another first-round pick. Robbins also says he could see Deni Avdija taking a significant step forward in 2022/23 and wonders if Washington will trim its standard roster to 14 players by opening night to maximize its flexibility (the team currently has 15 on guaranteed contracts).
Deni def has the potential to take a step forward w/ production & efficiency. It’s gonna be tough tho bc Beal is back w/ a mandate to fully dominate the offense (as well as the franchise/district as a whole). DC still got shot takers in Kuzma, Rui & Barton too. With so many other offensive minded forwards & an extremely high usage guard on the roster it just seems clear that Deni would be better off elsewhere, maybe a rebuilding team like SA or Utah. Romeo Langford & Isaiah Roby to DC for Deni & a future 2nd could work for the Spurs & Wizards (as well as all 3 players)
Glut of stretch 4’s here
1 of KP Kuzma Rui probably needs to go, assuming 1 of the last 2 as they hold the most trade value…Kuzma such a hard free agent call today..what’s the baseline 4/70? He’s obv declining (if healthy after this year ) his option
Time to take the baby gloves off Gafford as well
Riley is a far better trader than Suns GM jones
3 way deal by sending Bam and Herro to third team and Nets get all star AND rising star from third team
I really like to see a huge offer to Nets
I laugh every time people keep trying to connect the Heat to Donovan Mitchell, b/c they dont care about that. They do care Bout Kevin Durant, in which case Strus would unfortunately have to be in the deal
No matter how hard people try to make it a reality, Bam Adebayo isnt going anywhere
I am guessing the Hornets are getting a little pressure (understandable) from the public to rescind the qualifying offer. Any chance the players association and the NBA agree to postpone that deadline? Or would this open a can of worms that they don’t want to revisit in other situations.