The Miami Heat have officially struck out on LeBron James, who shocked the NBA world with his decision to join the Philadelphia 76ers.
James dragged his decision making process to a little over four weeks with Miami, Philadelphia and the Cleveland Cavaliers being the most notable suitors throughout. The news of him taking his talents to the Sixers wasn’t just a shock to fans, but to the Heat front office as well, according to several sources.
But Miami still has work to do to quickly pivot to a backup plan. Who is at the centerpiece of that backup plan?
DeMar DeRozan.
The Heat are expected to now show interest in DeMar DeRozan.
The former Sacramento Kings wing became an unrestricted free agent a few weeks back after reaching a buyout. He is someone that has been linked to Miami several times over the years, and this could finally be the season where things line up for a DeRozan-Heat pairing.
Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote that Miami is expected to have “fresh conversations” with the veteran scorer after failing to reel in James.
DeRozan is coming off a 2025-26 campaign averaging nearly 18/4/3 on efficient 50% shooting.
The Heat remain with three open roster spots and are still in need of another perimeter scorer playmaker— following each of Tyler Herro and Norman Powell’s departures and now missing out on James. DeRozan is an established offensive weapon that fits the bill, even at the age of 36.
He may not be an outside shooter to help with spreading the floor— or even much of a strong defender— but neither is James. Yet, the Heat still valued the idea of bringing in that playmaking and someone with the ability to get a bucket.
He could fill in with the starters in the backcourt or pose as a terrific sixth man microwave scorer to lead the second unit.
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Worth a try, if he is not already pissed off.
if u need a bucket last possession who u going to im going to demar.if u need a 3 port of miami.if your trying to win a chip who u calling 1joker 2 greek 3 brunson.need dd to have a shot at jewelry.dont get him gotta wait till next year or trade deadline.ive admired dds game for a while.he will finally be on a good team and those elbow js are sweet the way he creates space and shoots the ball.just such a natural scorer his whole career.
You know, there should be a closer named Giannis, and another one named Bam. Those teams with closer named DeRosan didnt went far in the past.
Rome wasn’t built in a day so we have to hang in there and see what unfolds. But, there is an imperative that we do more to strengthen this team this year as well as next. And it needs to happen quickly as the best remaining talent will likely be gone over the next week. You don’t bring a superstar like Giannis in, a top three player who chose to bring his talents here, and not do everything to build him a strong supporting cast. This process may take a second year to get our team fully developed, but things can still be done for this year and should be.
It is what it is 30. It’s like a poker game. You place your bet and take your chances. Riley did that. Now it’s time for him to make the most of it.
Think positive. Riley will pick up a couple of free agents and Spo will try to get the most out of Giannis, Portis, Bam and the regulars. The difference will be which free agents are available and how much Spo can get out of them and how well Larsson, Jovic and Conwell do.
Hang loose. There are interesting times ahead.
Thanks, as these are the moments when you feel something akin to real friendship on these threads. I was trying to low key disguise my anguish over losing LeBron, especially to the Sixers. Your reply was just what I needed to hear.
There are maybe 6 players in the team, which can be a part of a champion level team. This team will be very different in a year, so we need some patience.
That’s true. There is not enough out there to get it completely done this season. But, we can get closer, maybe get a step farther in the playoffs, by what we do in the next ten days.
Rumors out of Portland have Jrue Holiday going to the Heat. Right now just rumors, maybe nothing comes of it. But the Blazers have too many guards and not enough forwards. And the contracts of Jovic and Porter for Jrue match up. Not sayin, just sayin
We need a starting level point guard, but we also need big man.
I’ve seen that and the comments on their blog. I think the chances of Portis going anywhere are next to zero.
love to get jrue but not for port of miami.portis might have been the best under the radar signing this off season.in the nba cant wait to see his game down here.brings toughness to our softass team since quitter quit on us.
The Heat needs one more big not one less.
I don’t think Heat should do any trading with Portland unless it’s Lillard on a vet minimum. They owe us one.
Who is Porter?
The person at the airport who helps with my luggage.
if celts dont trade brown lebrons not going to phily
He said he didn’t want didn’t want Miami or Cleveland, so which Eastern team would be next in line (NY, Detroit, Boston, Toronto)?
DeMar DeRozan is a top target in NBA free agency following LeBron James’ decision to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Miami Heat are expected to reopen fresh conversations with the 36-year-old forward. By far the top target gotta get him pat.
I don’t think he’s a great fit, his defense has been awful the last three seasons. He isn’t a primary ball handler, he isn’t a 3 point threat.
Sure he can score, but as we’ve seen with Herro / Powell scoring while being a complete liability on defense doesn’t work.
He is a very good mid-ranga shooter and clutch closer. Can’t have everything.
Could find a 3 and D guy, versus a midrange king who thinks defense is bull fighting.
What 3 and D players are available?
Bruce brown, batum, or ochai agbaji.
Brown and Agbaji don’t seem to be very good from distance.
Brown is a career 38 percent from 3, agbaji is inconsistent from 3, but still young with room to grow, and a career 34 percent from 3. The threat of a 3 is still a lethal weapon to make the opp hesitate. But I feel u.
May want to check that again. I show he shot a very good 38.5% last season, but is 34.4% for his career. Good defender though. I agree about Agbaji. Worth a flyer.
Oh ok, yes you’re right, sorry I was in a rush checking lol
A few 3’s but not many d’s.
u ask gms or nba players whod they rather have bruce been mediocre my whole career 8 pts career avg or demar been all star type player whole career 21 pts derozan not to many picking bb except zach k
He and Lavine combined to have the worst defensive rating in the history of the NBA at a point in time last year.
The kings were actually better with him off the court.
He’s sooooo good, that Sacramento won 22 games in a season he played 77 games.
He can play average defense with a good defensive team with good defensive schemes. He has been playing on a team full of matadores the past several years (Lavine, Sabonis, etc).
Did Tyler Herro play average defense when he had an elite defensive team around him? No. Neither with DeRozan at this point.
https://screwball.com/nba/demar-derozan/on-off-splits
https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612758&Season=2025-26,2024-25&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=201942,203897,1631099
Just because a player was good 3 years ago, doesn’t mean they are good today.
Miami isn’t exactly in a position to turn away talent, but I’m of the belief that DeRozan is over rated by Heat fans desperate to fill out the bench. I’d rather see the minutes go to Jovic and pray he figures it out.
At least with a player like Beal, he can handle the ball and shoot 3’s. That’s more of a need than anything DeRozan provides, even if he too is washed and awful defensively
Agree, he is not. He might win us a game or two, but that doesn’t mean the team would be stronger with him.
This would be a great move. Demar is still a very skillful player.
Skillful mid range scorer and that’s about it. He’s been awful defensively the last three years.
They should pivot to Bruce Brown.
Off the bench spark and closer.
are u a sac kings fan .stop with trashing him hed be #2 scoring option .id be doing back flips if he were lucky enough to get him.your 2 fn negative .cant wait to sign him
He’s too negative? Lol!
hhh all neg team hot hot hoops 4lf 1 zach karp 2 hfl unc and herro hater #3 riley hater 30 4
all positive team cheerleader manila 1 homer rc 2
all iq team sm 1 2q 2
I think I’ve moved ahead of Manila. He’s been a little negative lately.
your right rc he has to return the pom poms im gonna ship them to u.i cant recall u saying one negative thing about the heat over the years. maybe little goldin hate.u are mr positive manilas tone has changed lately i think hes got playin syndromitis
I’ve had some things to say about Spo, Jovic, Vlad, quitter, Duncan, and others.
not enough for spobot and unc.jovic is a no brainer.goldin unfort looks like his legs dont move fast enough so criticisms are james worthy for him
DeRozan, as noted, would be great coming off the bench. He has been, what I call, a professional scorer his whole career. I also have never heard or read about him complaining or having off court issues.
He might not be a fit on the court with Giannis, Pelle, Bam, but would be fine with Portis, Hardaway, Simone, at least offensively.
Exactly.
Let the free agent waterfall begin again! It’s official with the Rockets signing Oscar Tshiebwe. And we’re off!
I had a thisheibwe in my privates once. Penicillin knocked it right out.
think it was julian phillips 2q