Kevin Durant and Hassan Whiteside (Photo : NBAE via Getty Images)
The Miami Heat could be really interested in signing Kevin Durant and Hassan Whiteside in this year's free agency.
The Heat are one of the teams expected to get really busy this summer as they try to retain Dwyane Wade and Whiteside, two of Miami's most coveted free agents. However, the Heat, who have a projected max salary cap space of $36.6 million, find themselves in a difficult situation with both players likely to seek a max contract from the team.
Nevertheless, the Heat should still be primed to sign top free agents if Pat Riley can fully display his recruiting skills come July. According to Anthony Chiang of the Palm Beach Post, the Heat could be very interested in Durant and Whiteside, two of the most coveted players in the 2016 free agency class.
Chiang listed the potential free agents the Heat could pursue this coming summer and scaled the expected level of interest Miami has for the players. Among the 10 restricted and unrestricted free agents in the list, only Durant and Whiteside are the players likely to draw strong interest from the two-time world champions.
For Durant, heading East to join the Heat would give him a greater chance to compete for a title, especially if he could team up with one of the most dominant big man in the league in Whiteside, who posted his best season in his career in the past season, averaging 14.2 points and 11.8 rebounds per game.
A frontcourt duo of Durant and Whiteside will give matchup nightmares to teams on both ends of the floor and make the Heat instant title contenders even against a LeBron James-led team in the Eastern Conference. Moreover, the Heat may convince other stars to take less money for a chance at NBA glory in South Beach with Durant and Whiteside on board.
However, despite falling short to competing in the NBA Finals, Durant is still expected to say with the Thunder, although on a short-term max deal of two-years with a player-option in the final year.
On the other hand, Whiteside, who will deservingly seek a max contract from the Heat and other suitors, may not earn a max deal from the Heat, with the team not owning the 27-year-old's full Bird rights, which means they cannot go over the cap to re-sign him. This also means if the Heat chose to sign Whiteside first to a max contract, there will be little room to sign other top free agents available in the market.
Likewise, signing Durant to a max deal will also limit the Heat from landing Whiteside in free agency, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
"If Miami can sign Durant, keeping Whiteside becomes highly unlikely. That's why the Heat needs a read on Durant before it can move forward with Whiteside," Jackson wrote.
Having a frontcourt monster lineup of Durant and Whiteside can be very intriguing for the Heat, especially if they could keep some of their own key free agents. But unless Riley could use some of his magic to lure top talents into Miami, Durant and Whiteside playing for the Heat will always be a pipedream.
