![\"Miami](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/miami-heat-introduce-andrew-wiggins-kyle-anderson-davion-mitchell-miami-florida.jpg\")
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MIAMI, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 09: Pat Riley speaks to media at Kaseya Center on February 09, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Miami Heat<\/a> are scrambling for alternative options with LeBron James spurning a return to South Beach in favor of the Philadelphia 76ers. NBA<\/a> rumors continue to link the Heat to several stars, but one guard may not be wearing a Miami uniform anytime soon.<\/p>\n Miami Herald\u2019s Barry Jackson<\/a> reported that the Heat are not close to a deal with DeMar DeRozan. The Heat appear to be prioritizing potentially landing Klay Thompson, but Miami needs the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> to cut ties with the veteran in order to land the sharpshooter.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Heat has had conversation with free agent forward Demar DeRozan\u2019s camp in the aftermath of James picking the 76ers, but there\u2019s no deal at this point and it\u2019s unclear if there will be one,\u201d Jackson wrote in a July 25, story titled, \u201cWhere things stand with Heat\u2019s free agent pursuit a day after James picks 76ers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe reason: Though the Heat has interest in DeRozan and appreciates his skills, at least one Heat official wants to be patient and wait out the market before making a move with one of the team\u2019s three open roster spots, a source said.\u201d<\/p>\n Let\u2019s explore the latest Heat rumors.<\/p>\n Heat Rumors: Miami Has Competition to Land DeMar DeRozan After Striking Out on LeBron James<\/p>\n DeRozan was previously on a three-year, $73.7 million contract<\/a> before being released by the Sacramento Kings<\/a>. The Heat clearly would have loved to have James, but DeRozan would not be a bad backup plan.<\/p>\n The guard averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds per game while shooting 32% from long range in 77 starts last season. Miami may need to make a decision soon as the Heat are not the only team rejected by James who could have an interest in landing DeRozan.<\/p>\n LeBron James\u2019 Agent Expected the Superstar to Sign With the Heat Before Joining 76ers<\/p>\n It will not make Heat fans feel any better that even James\u2019 agent Rich Paul expected the star to sign with Miami at one point during NBA free agency. The news does demonstrate just how painfully close the Heat were in potentially landing James.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears the final three teams on his list were Cleveland, Miami and Philadelphia, as ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania had reported in recent days,\u201d ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst<\/a> detailed in a July 25, article story titled, \u201cLeBron chooses 76ers: Why not Cavs or Heat? Here\u2019s what Windy knows.\u201d \u201cThe Heat had a compelling case after trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo. They also have James\u2019 2024 Olympic teammate, Bam Adebayo, on the roster.<\/p>\n \u201cPaul told ESPN\u2019s Ramona Shelburne on Friday that, for a time, he believed James was headed to Miami,\u201d Windhorst continued.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Heat, however, are a little thin after they traded four young players \u2014 Tyler Herro, Kel\u2019el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kasparas Jakucionis \u2014 for Antetokounmpo and lost All-Star Norman Powell in free agency. James\u2019 focus on picking the team best positioned to win a title might have negatively affected the Heat\u2019s standing. (And no, their YouTube gaffe didn\u2019t play a role in this decision.)\u201d<\/p>\n The Heat have also been linked to Bradley Beal but appear to be waiting on Thompson before making a decision on the veteran or DeRozan. <\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJonathan Adams<\/a> is a veteran sports contributor covering the NFL, NBA and golf for Heavy.com. His work has been prominently featured on NFL.com, Yahoo Sports, Pro Football Talk, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated. More about Jonathan Adams<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty MIAMI, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 09: Pat Riley speaks to media at Kaseya Center on February 09, 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-352945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}