Kevin Durant to the Miami Heat Makes Sense For a Few Reasons

Pat Riley is a genius, but you already knew that. He was able to shuffle the Miami Heat roster in 2010 to make room for Chris Bosh and LeBron James. It resulted in four straight trips to the Finals, and two titles.

Then LeBron left and Miami missed the playoffs.

But as anticipated, they’re a contender again thanks largely to Pat Riley’s brilliance. It was a stroke of genius to land Goran Dragic; Riley struck gold with Hassan Whiteside and then stole Josh Richardson in the 2nd round of the draft. They’re up 1-0 on the Raptors and appear to be on a collision course with LeBron and the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But it gets better: Kevin Durant is going to be in play for the Heat this summer. After you’re done laughing at the idea of him following in the footsteps of LeBron, here’s why you shouldn’t laugh: The Heat are going to have an unbelievable amount of salary cap room this offseason. The salary cap is going way up. The Heat only have five players locked in for next season: Bosh, Dragic, McRoberts, Winslow and Richardson. They’ll have to re-sign Dwyane Wade, obviously (maybe that’ll be a tad contentious again), but with that core, would Durant strongly consider Miami if they can also keep Whiteside?

The Lakers (and others) will presumably push very hard for Whiteside (who led the NBA in blocks with 3.68 per game), who is going to want max money. That’s understandable, given the 2+ years he spent in the D-League, China, and Lebanon. He turns 27 this summer, and it’s his shot at a major payday. He may take whoever offers him the most, which hasn’t been Riley’s MO in Miami.

But then again, this part could baffle you: What if Kevin Durant is convinced the Western Conference reign is over, and the East has a more difficult path to the Finals? Again, before freaking out, consider this doomsday look at what could become of the Western Conference in July:

– Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili retire from the San Antonio Spurs
– The window has closed on the old Memphis Grizzlies, and point guard Mike Conley decides to move on
– The Houston Rockets try to rebuild quickly, letting Dwight Howard walk, but striking out on free agents

Add this: The 6-7-8 playoff seeds in the West wouldn’t have made the playoffs in the East last season, something you haven’t been able to say since the strike-shortened 2011-2012 season.

So three playoff teams in the West that could have a major upheaval. And it doesn’t include the Clippers, who have been running in quicksand for three years now with the CP3/Griffin/DeAndre Jordan trio, and the Mavericks, who face a pivotal offseason.

There might actually be more intriguing non-playoff teams in the West. Utah has a lot of young talent and Dante Exum returns from injury. The Minnesota Timberwolves are loaded, have another high draft pick and now have a great coach. The Lakers have a lot of salary cap room and maybe the #1 pick in the draft.

(I can’t add New Orleans; let’s see if the Pelicans lose Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon in free agency. They could be addition by subtraction, but let’s face it – Anthony Davis doesn’t have nearly enough help.)

Durant himself could swing the conference debate if he goes West-to-East. But for the second straight summer, the NBA in July is going to be the most fascinating thing to watch in sports.