Miami Heat
Every offseason, Pat Riley and the Miami Heat front-office look for ways to potentially lure All-Star talents to South Beach and they will be doing the same this offseason. If Kawhi Leonard becomes a free agent, opting out of his player option for the 2021-22 season, then the Heat will “push all of their chips in” to try and sign him, but Kemba Walker had been a rumored favorite of theirs.
READ MORE: NBA Rumors: Grading the Celtics-Thunder trade featuring Kemba Walker to OKC
With Goran Dragic likely to become a free agent this offseason and Kendrick Nunn being a free agent, the Heat need to figure out their backcourt situation and going after Kemba Walker could make a lot of sense. He would be a great #2 scoring option next to Jimmy Butler and fits their offense quite well given his ability to facilitate and attack in transition.
Walker has also been known to be a great three-point shooter over his career, shooting 36.0% from deep over the course of his now 10-year NBA career, which fits how the Heat likes to play through their guards.
With Goran Dragic having a team option for next year of $19.4M and Andre Iguodala having a team option of $15M for next season, the Miami Heat have the ability to open up immediate cap room on their roster, which is why going after a guy like Kemba Walker is plausible.
However, with him being recently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Heat may not be able to get a deal done for Walker this offseason, meaning that if they declined both of these team options, then they would likely be going after another veteran guard like Kyle Lowry in NBA free agency.
