Could Miami Heat Target Sacramento Kings All-Star Reportedly Looking For A Trade?
De’Aaron Fox’s time apart of the Sacramento Kings may be at its end as the team announces they may be willing to trade him before the Feb. 6 deadline.
Fox is currently under contract with the Kings for the next two seasons. However, the Kings have underperformed outside the 2022-2023 season, when they made their first playoff appearance since 2006.
The Miami Heat have also been discussing a potential rebuild. Jimmy Butler requested a trade from the team after they refused to give him an extension of at least $113 million. His maximum extension will potentially last until he’s nearly 40 years old.
In Shams Charania’s report, it's believed Fox has a team in mind he’d like to go to before he’s a free agent by the 2026 offseason. The Heat can be an option as they have built their roster’s future for adding another star to replace Butler after he leaves.
ESPN ANALYST PRAISES MIAMI HEAT’S KEL’EL WARE FOR BREAKUT ROOKIE SEASON
One of the most significant bright spots of the season for the Miami Heat has been Kel’el Ware, playing as nearly a lock for the Rookie of the Year award.
Ware spent most of his time on the bench or in and out of the G-League, as several Heat rookies have done to start their debut seasons. This all changed on Dec. 21. Ware took complete control of the backup center duties, leading to his dominance getting starter-level minutes on Jan. 19.
In the past five games, Ware has averaged 18.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks on 54.9 percent shooting and 46.4 percent from three-point range.
Tim Legler and Adam Mares spoke on their All NBA podcast about Ware’s dominant stretch since becoming an essential part of the rotation. They believe he has a good chance of winning the award regardless of whether he just started getting a chance this late in the season because of how well he’s been playing.
“It’s not like Miami is completely irrelevant, but they’re not a contending team,” Legler said. “But if you average 15 or 16 over half a season and you’re on a team like Miami, that’s sort of a middle of the pack, .500 type of team; eventually those numbers are going to outweigh the other things. He’s opening eyes right now with his consistency and high-level production.”
Mares praised the Heat and Erik Spoelstra for finding another underrated player who emerges and plays very well in a larger role once given the opportunity.
“This is right out of the Spoelstra playbook, I feel,” Mares said. “Always finds guys that are just under the radar for half a season. All of a sudden, they break out, and they’re in a playoff rotation. We’ve seen this with Duncan Robinson and a handful of other guys that just become good. This, to me, is right on track.”
ERIK SPOELSTRA FEELS MIAMI HEAT “PROVED GRIT” IN WIN WITHOUT JIMMY BUTLER
With all of the distractions and chaos off the court because of Jimmy Butler’s constant suspensions, this was an excellent win for the Miami Heat.
Coach Erik Spoelstra talked post-game and immediately acknowledged how vital this comeback victory was and how this win could be one of the building blocks for the future.
“What it means right now is just that we proved to ourselves we have a tremendous amount of grit, and you gain confidence from that,” Spoelstra said. “Last time we played Orlando, it was the same type of thing. We had to totally gut it out, and there were so many inspiring defensive plays down the stretch.”
Spoelstra made a point to address, first and foremost, how impactful Bam Adebayo’s defense is to the team. Before tonight, his offense hadn’t been up to his usual standards and hadn’t finished with a game scoring at least 20 points since Jan. 2. However, tonight was one of his best games of the season on both ends of the floor.
“Bam is just a true definition of a two-way player,” Spoelstra continued. “ I understand what people are saying about his offense. It was great for him to have that moment where he had big offensive plays down the stretch, but we can’t forget how impactful he can be defensively in whatever coverage against 1-5.”
Spoelstra also discussed his new rotation of Adebayo, Nikola Jovic, and Kel’el Ware, who are all in the same big unit for the first time all year. Through 20 minutes, they were a plus 17 and closed out the fourth quarter and both overtime periods.
“Niko did a good job defensively in the fourth quarter and overtimes,” Spoelstra explained. “And Kel’el and Bam have already been building this chemistry defensively. That’s what we want. We want to make it really hard for teams to score easy buckets in the paint and at the rim. Our offense, we think, will get better as we spend more time together.”
Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook.