The NBA community cannot forget how Kevin Durant became the talk of the town during the 2016 Free Agency. Following a Western Conference Finals loss against the Golden State Warriors, the Slim Reaper was set to end his nine-year relationship with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Several teams joined the pursuit to acquire the superstar.
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The Miami Heat and several other franchises failed to acquire the forward. However, in hindsight, Udonis Haslem believed that Durant not joining the South Florida organization was a blessing for him.
LeBron James had parted ways with the Heat merely two years ago after a successful four-year stint – two championships in four trips to the finals. Per Haslem, the Durantula would’ve had to deal with the pressure of constantly being compared to LBJ and better the latter’s performance.
“That was also heels of Bron just leaving and I just didn’t know if KD wanted to deal with that. Because everything he did was going to be compared to what Bron did when he was in Miami… It just would have been a frustrating situation for KD… I was hoping it was going to work out, but in the long run I really didn’t think that that was gonna be the time that he came to Miami.”
It was reported that since the Miami Heat were one such franchise interested in adding Durant to their roster, the players were even willing to take a pay cut if necessary. Hassan Whiteside, the Heat’s starting center at the time, disclosed how the idea of a potential title motivated him to demand less money from the front office to lure KD.
“If KD come, I’ll take less money. It was more so about winning. I was like, I will take less money cause we would’ve had Goran, D-Wade, Kevin Durant, Chris Bosh, and then me at the five… I was like ‘I’m here for it’,” Whiteside told on The OGs podcast.
Durant’s decision to sign with the Golden State Warriors was a controversial one. To date, the 2014 MVP has been subjected to hate for joining Stephen Curry and Co. However, the move was an immensely successful one. In each of the three years in San Francisco, Durant led the Warriors to the NBA Finals, winning the titles in 2017 & 2018.
For the Heat, being unable to acquire Durant resulted in a horrible summer for the front office. Resigning Whiteside on a four-year $98 million contract was their biggest move. Additionally, the team also added a few players – Dion Waiters, Derrick Williams, James Johnson, and Wayne Ellington – to the roster, which resulted in a subpar 9th seed finish during the 2016-2017 regular season.
