What If The Miami Heat Acquired Kyrie Irving?

Dallas Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving will be a free agent this summer.

On Tuesday evening, the Miami Heat are hosting the Atlanta Hawks for their play-in tournament game.

The franchise has made the NBA Playoffs in each of the last three seasons and is coming off a year where they made the Eastern Conference Finals.

That said, the Heat have had an up-and-down 2022-23 season, and even if they beat the Hawks, they will be the seventh seed and have to go up against the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Their best player (Jimmy Butler) is 33 years old, so before he exits his prime, the Heat should look to see what they can do to improve the roster drastically.

One of their most significant areas of concern is point guard because Kyle Lowry, at 37, is on the decline. 

Why has Kyle Lowry played better from an efficiency perspective since his return?

“I was hurt.”

Says he pushed through it until he couldn’t anymore.

“I was playing on one leg.” pic.twitter.com/oIKVPNbpf2

— Five Reasons Sports 🏀🏈⚾️🏒⚽️ (@5ReasonsSports) April 10, 2023

Who Could The Heat Go After This Summer? 

While it would not be easy, I believe they should try to acquire All-Star guard Kyrie Irving over the offseason.  

The former Duke star was traded (via the Brooklyn Nets) to the Dallas Mavericks in the middle of the season, and the team did not play well during his short tenure.   

Despite their All-Star duo of Luka Doncic (and Irving), the Mavs (38-44) finished as the 11th seed and missed the postseason.

Mavs GM Nico Harrison has “optimism” the Kyrie Irving will return to Dallas in free agency. Irving expressed appreciation for how the franchise has treated him during his exit interview with the front office yesterday.

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 11, 2023

Playing in Miami would be a much better fit considering the Heat are in need of an elite point guard and already have a talented roster in place that features Butler, Bam Adebayo and an abundance of role players.

In order to even have a chance at Irving, the Heat would have to clear a lot of cap space or try and do a sign-and-trade.

They could use Lowry's expiring contract or 2022 6th Man of The Year Tyler Herro as potential trade assets.

There is no question that the framework of acquiring him would be complicated, but if they could pull off such a move, the Heat would become one of the favorites to win the 2024 NBA Championship. 

I would love to see Kyrie on this Miami Heat team. They need his scoring in the worst way and with Jimmy, Bam, Spo and Pat Riley it feels like the culture could set him up for success in ways we haven't seen from him since he played with LeBron.

— Raheem Palmer (@iamrahstradamus) April 12, 2023

The Heat have been to the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the last three seasons, so there is still a chance they could make a deep run this year. 

That said, their chances are slim, and they are running out of time to win a title before the end of Butler's prime. 

Doing everything they can to acquire a player like Irving would be a smart move. 

More on the Miami Heat can be read here