Getty Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat is defended by John Collins #20 of the Atlanta Hawks
The Miami Heat continue to search for the final additions to their team this offseason. Last year, the team finished the season first in the Eastern Conference and had a highly competitive playoff run that culminated in their elimination in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Boston Celtics. After their playoff run, one thing was obvious: the Heat needed to add another superstar with Jimmy Butler. Even rival center Joel Embiid shared that opinion on Twitter, saying, “Miami needs another Star.”
Miami’s search for another star has had them linked with the Brooklyn Nets for both Kevin Durant and even Kyrie Irving on occasion. They have also been in discussion with the Utah Jazz for Donovan Mitchell, who is known to want to come to Miami. However, there remains little traction with any of these trade discussions, and this could have the Heat looking at contingency plans. One plan included the sharpshooting big man from the Dallas Mavericks, David Bertans, in a trade involving Duncan Robinson. However, a recent update from ESPN’s Zach Lowe shares another star that the team could consider chasing.
Heat Could Revisit John Collins Trade with Hawks
ESPN’s Zach Lowe discussed Miami being active in trade talks on the latest episode of “The Lowe Post” podcast, and some of that may include them pursuing John Collins, who has been reported to be on the trading block for the Atlanta Hawks.
“There has been some Miami, John Collins chatter,” Lowe said. “It’s old. It might be months old. I don’t think it was ever really serious at all. They might revisit that.”
Last year, Collins played in 54 games for the Hawks. He averaged 16.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 52.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc.
If they are unable to get a deal done for Durant or Mitchell, Collins does bring another scoring option to a Heat team that needs someone to help take some of the pressure off of Butler. Collins could be slotted in with Adebayo for an extremely versatile and athletic front court. Who the Heat would include on potential Collins trades wasn’t specified, but it would make sense to have Duncan Robinson or Max Strus in the deal.
Robinson could be a good option to replace Danilo Gallinari in Atlanta, and Collins would be an excellent young solution to fill in for the loss of PJ Tucker.
Latest on Durant Offers
As time goes on, it is looking less and less like the Heat can put together a strong enough offer to bring Durant to South Beach. The Nets have been reported to be less than enthused by Miami’s current offering.
According to Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, the Nets “have displayed little interest in the Heat’s offer for the high-scoring superstar, and Miami is moving ahead with its current roster for next season.”
If they are moving on from Durant, could they now look to add another young star in Collins to slide into their frontcourt?