When Will Heat Fans Learn? We Are Not Getting Kevin Durant

Insert the “aw shit, here we go again” meme because the Miami Heat are doing it yet again.

We all know how this goes. It’s been the same tired song and dance for the last four or five years. A big-name player becomes available. That player inevitably expresses some sort of interest in joining the Miami Heat. Then the media pump the reports down our throats how the deal could be done “any moment now.” Heat fans start daydreaming, cooking up lineups on Twitter, Photoshopping jerseys, and fantasizing about just how dominant this team could be. And then, right before we reach our climax, Shams drops the tweet. The superstar has signed elsewhere. Why? Because Pat Riley didn’t want to include a 19-year-old prospect who averages 4.6 points per game and has never played meaningful minutes.

It’s a tale as old as time. And honestly, I don’t know why Heat fans think this Kevin Durant buzz is going to end any differently.

I hope I’m wrong. Truly. I would love nothing more than for KD to finally suit up in a Heat jersey. But I’ve been hearing about Durant to Miami rumors for years now. Every offseason, every trade deadline, it’s the same recycled speculation. “He likes the culture.” “He wants to win.” “He loves Jimmy.” But it never actually happens. So why, all of a sudden, am I supposed to believe it’s different this time?

Maybe it’s because KD is 37 now, and this could be his final contract. Maybe he does want to spend the last chapter of his career in Miami, soaking up the sun and chasing a ring with a gritty squad. I get the logic. But if the last four seasons have taught me anything, it’s that the Miami Heat are always sitting at the table but never the ones walking away with the prize.

So here’s how this will probably go down… We miss on KD (again). The fanbase melts down (again). The front office drafts another raw 19-year-old who plays 10 minutes a night (again). And somehow, some way, we’ll claw our way through the play-in, just good enough to avoid a lottery pick, but not nearly good enough to be taken seriously.

Again.

So yeah, insert the meme. Because once again, the Miami Heat whiff and leave us fans with nothing.