The Miami Heat are not done making moves after landing Giannis Antetokounmpo, as Pat Riley alluded to last week. While their reported pursuit of LeBron James continues to grab headlines, the Heat can make another sneaky move to form a legitimate Super Team in South Beach.
The move would involve using Andrew Wiggins’ expiring $30 million contract and Nikola Jović’s $16.2 million salary to acquire Kyrie Irving. As a former teammate of LeBron James, Irving’s acquisition could all but seal the deal in the Heat’s pursuit of a reunion with the four-time NBA champion.
Miami Heat Trade Pitch for Kyrie Irving
Heat would receive: Kyrie Irving, Max Christie
Mavericks would receive: Andrew Wiggins, Nikola Jovic
Irving previously expressed his desire to reunite with James after their stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers ended on a sour note. The point guard revealed that he tried to recruit James to the Mavericks a few years ago, and was even open to a trade to the Lakers to join his former teammate and Anthony Davis to form a Big 3.
“Everything was considered. He’s a great friend of mine, a great brother of mine,” Irving said in 2024. “We obviously played together [in Cleveland]. Everybody knows our history. But there were so many different factors in between. When it comes to business decisions, you have to ask the GMs, the presidents why certain things didn’t work out.”
Why the Heat Do It
As part of the deal, the Heat would further shore up their backcourt with the acquisition of Max Christie, a defensive-minded guard with a lot of upside. Last season, the 23-year-old Christie averaged a career-high 12.3 points while making 2.3 threes per game at an efficient clip of 40.4%.
A potential Heat Super Team headlined by Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving could grapple with serious spacing issues due to the lack of shooting. A player like Christie, to go with free-agent signing Tim Hardaway Jr., could alleviate some of those concerns.
Most of all, Irving’s arrival would give James good reason to spurn the Cleveland Cavaliers, Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors, and return to Miami.
Why the Mavericks Do It
Irving, who has a $42M player option for next season, is extension-eligible, but the Mavericks may be hesitant to pay him due to his recent injury history. Furthermore, the Mavs are evidently moving in a new direction with their young core of Cooper Flagg, Morez Johnson Jr., John Poulakidas, Dereck Lively II,, Moussa Cisse and the recently-acquired Zaccharie Risacher, and may be looking to offload veterans like Irving, P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford and other members of the 2024 NBA Finals team.
Neither Wiggins nor Jovic would be risky additions.
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