Hanifan: Trading Kel'el Ware for Kevin Durant would be incredibly irresponsible

Kel'el Ware Miami Heat — (Mandatory Credit: Brandon Dill/AP)

We are less than three weeks away from the 2025 NBA Draft and less than a month away from NBA Free Agency tipping off. One way or another, we know that change will likely be on its way for the Miami Heat, coming off their worst season in a decade.

One direction they will almost certainly explore is star-hunting, specifically for Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant. Miami likely won’t be the only team involved in the Durant sweepstakes, but the expectation is that the price won’t be as high as it was ahead of the deadline, as the 36-year-old heads into the final year of his deal ($54.7 million).

Phoenix is limited in the package it can acquire because it’s a second apron team, meaning it can’t aggregate salary nor take back more than the $54.7 million it trades for Durant. However, there’s one young player that Miami shouldn’t dangle under any circumstances.

The Heat trading Kel’el Ware for Kevin Durant would be irresponsible:

According to Action Network’s Matt Moore, the Suns are reportedly prioritizing acquiring a big man in any trade for the soon-to-be 37-year-old.

“The Suns have indicated to teams that center is at a premium for them in any KD talks,” Moore wrote earlier this week. “He might stick around, but their biggest interest is in solving the center position, which has been a disaster since moving on from Ayton.”

The Phoenix Suns are reportedly prioritizing acquiring a center in Kevin Durant trade talks, per @HPbasketball

“The Suns have indicated to teams that center is at a premium for them in any KD talks. He might stick around, but their biggest interest is in solving the center… pic.twitter.com/yGEPvjoJIZ
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 3, 2025

After hap-hazardly matching the Indiana Pacers’ four-year, $133 million offer sheet, the Phoenix Suns were forced to offload Ayton in the three-team Damian Lillard trade two offseasons ago in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic fell out of the rotation last season and was eventually traded to Charlotte for Nick Richards. They have played musical chairs in the frontcourt with none of their options working out, so it makes sense why Phoenix would want an established big man in return.

Ware, 21, however, is the Heat’s best asset outside of Bam Adebayo.

Do I still have concerns about his game? Absolutely. A lot of it is predicated on getting stronger, but I do have concerns about his floor spacing capabilities, motor and positioning in drop. He can improve, but his lows last year were quite low; it takes time to make a consistent impact if you’re not in the right spots or don’t have enough weight to throw at stronger bigs.

That said, he was one of the few bright spots since entering the rotation full-time in January. He averaged 11.0 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.3 blocks since the start of the New Year on 55.6 percent shooting and 60.6 percent shooting. Miami now has a full offseason to get his body in better shape and continue to mold him into the player they’ve been seeking alongside Adebayo for over a half-decade.

The Heat have barely tapped into the potential of their 7-foot big. Trading him before the thick of the developmental process begins doesn’t make any sense–especially when he has three more years left on his rookie contract.

Would Durant help the Heat? Absolutely. And you have to give up something to get something. But you don’t trade arguably your second-best asset for one year of Durant, who will be entering his age-37 season, when most of your other assets that could be used to add elsewhere … aren’t great.

Sacrifices will have to be made somewhere to maintain flexibility, but you’re throwing perhaps your best long-term building block into the wind when you aren’t anywhere close to contending–even in a wide-open East (which only applies to good teams; Miami isn’t).

That would be a move out of desperation, out of recklessness, out of a lack of self-awareness of where you are as a franchise.

Miami Heat: Examining other possible Kevin Durant destinations

This situation is dissimilar to the previous builds with Butler, Adebayo and Herro, when it came to trading young players for established vets. You could justify making this swing after 2021-22, even though Miami never had the package necessary to complete those trades–a direct indictment on the franchise’s asset mismanagement at certain points over the last decade.

But those times are nothing more than a gust of wind no longer felt. The Heat is a stage of purgatory. They are in the stage where they should focus on obtaining assets, not consolidating more for a team that isn’t contending. And the idea of potentially trading your best one not named Adebayo–plus more–in a deal for a player in the twilight of his career would do way more harm than good in both the short- and long-term.