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Miami Heat Could Pursue Gordon Hayward If They Fail To Land Kevin Durant Or Donovan Mitchell

While the Miami Heat have remained an intriguing trade destination for both Kevin Durant and Donovan Mitchell, the team has pretty much struggled to close a deal, with latest reports suggesting that their pursuit of either Durant and Mitchell hasn’t gained much traction.

With this being the case, an NBA executive, who talked to Sean Deveney of Heavy.com, reported that the Heat could try to bring in Charlotte Hornets forward Gordon Hayward as an alternate plan if they cannot trade for Durant or Mitchell.

Hayward has injury concerns and a large contract. But when healthy, the 32-year old is still a solid player who can stretch the floor and get his teammates involved. In two years with the Hornets, he has averaged 17.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game on 46.6% shooting from the field. 

Per Heavy.com:

“I think a guy they will keep an eye on is Gordon Hayward,” the NBA executive told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.

“Charlotte’s in a tough position with the [Miles] Bridges thing, they have [Steve] Clifford coming in, they’re in a position to rest things a little bit around LaMelo Ball. Hayward has two years left.

“If you want to give up [Tyler] Herro before you pay him and you want to move [Duncan] Robinson, you would have to add a pick, but those two guys and Omer [Yurtseven], that might be enough to get Hayward if the Hornets decide to reconfigure. It’s a short-term move for Miami, but they need to make their move now. You can play him at the 3 and go big or go small at the 4. He’s a guy they’ve had interest in before.”