There is growing suspicion that the Miami Heat have an interest in making a trade for Golden State Warriors unrestricted free agent forward Jonathan Kuminga, according to a recent report from Miami Herald sports reporter Anthony Chiang.
The report notes that even though Miami is interested in Kuminga, it is exploring other players to acquire in a trade. The reasoning behind this decision is that Miami is looking to add another talented player to its roster, led by All-Stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
Miami is also rumored to have interest in making a blockbuster deal to acquire Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to a recent New York Post article. Due to the rumored trade talks, the Heat’s front office has yet to hold a free-agent meeting with Kuminga, who is a restricted free agent, meaning Golden State can match any offer sent to him.
However, another roadblock facing Miami is its salary-cap situation for this summer. The Heat are well beyond the current $140 million cap. But there is a way around this financial issue, according to Chiang.
“Any move for Kuminga would almost definitely need to come through a sign-and-trade transaction since Miami doesn’t have cap space, and any team that acquires a player through a sign-and-trade is hard-capped at the first apron of $195.9 million,” Chiang reported.
The rumors come as Miami is preparing for a challenging offseason centered around one of their main role players. They are waiting for forward Duncan Robinson to decide whether if he wants to extend his early termination option by the deadline on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
A formal decision has not been made, but if Robinson decides to exercise the option, he will become an unrestricted free agent, and his $19.9 million salary for this upcoming season will be off the Heat’s roster, according to Chiang. But if he decides to let the deadline pass, he would remain in the Heat’s lineup, and $9.9 million of his $19.9 million salary would become guaranteed money.
If Robinson is willing to exercise his option, this will help Miami free up some cap space so they could potentially make a trade for Kuminga. But it comes at the cost of losing Robinson’s superb 3-point shooting, which was has helped the offense generate points by creating second-chance opportunities.
