NBA Rumors: Miami Heat Frontrunners For Kevin Durant Free Agency; Dwyane Wade Eyes Russell Westbrook To Complete Big 3

By Mitch de Leon
Kevin Durant
The Golden State Warriors eye the potential transfer of Kevin Durant in the NBA champions' team.

The Miami Heat suffered a huge setback when LeBron James opted to get out of the team and pursue his dream of bringing home a championship trophy to the Cleveland Cavaliers. With this dream coming into fruition courtesy of the Game 7 victory Kyrie Irving and company had against the Golden State Warriors, reports have surfaced that Pat Riley is building a team that would give the Kevin Love squad a run for their money next NBA season. Sources claim that the Miami Heat are very strong contenders to seal the Kevin Durant free agency deal this offseason.

In the 2015-16 NBA season, the Miami Heat showed a remarkable improvement from when LeBron James left the team. Moreover, the emergency of Luol Deng and Hassan Whiteside as surprise NBA leaders in the playoffs made the absence of both Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh bearable for the team. Hence, sources believe that the Miami Heat can be a possible destination for Kevin Durant who is aggressively searching for a team that can help him win a championship ring.

"A player in Durant's situation is totally unique," shared an unnamed agent in an interview with The Oklahoman. He added, "He is more anticipating seeing the pitches from other teams just because he wants to."

In the same interview, another unnamed agent shared that the Oklahoma City Thunder remain the frontrunners for the Kevin Durant free agency train. With Steven Adams and Russell Westbrook as strong influences in his decision, the 2014 NBA MVP can still choose to remain with his current team. However, Kevin Durant is not discounting the offers of the other basketball teams.

At this point, the most pressing criteria for Kevin Durant are good basketball environment and team. Moreover, the NBA team that wants to sign KD "needs to be a good team, in a better market with a better chance to win than OKC." With this in mind, two teams emerge as potential landing spots: the Golden State Warriors, which pride itself of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, and the Miami Heat, which offers Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Hassan Whiteside.

"So Golden State and Miami become the only real players," disclosed an NBA agent. He added, "It's too hard to justify a move to Los Angeles (Lakers) or New York because they are not close to winning. Houston's out."

Both the Golden State Warriors and the Miami Heat have won NBA championships - an achievement that Kevin Durant wants under his belt as soon as possible. However, the Dwyane Wade squad might just have a trick up to their sleeve to finally win the Kevin Durant free agency war. Rumors are rife that Pat Riley plans to lure KD in the Miami Heat by offering a secured spot to Russell Westbrook in 2017.

What do you think? Will the Miami Heat be the perfect spot for Kevin Durant? Will a big three composed of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Dwyane Wade topple the Cleveland Cavaliers team-up of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love?

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