Amid Kevin Durant noise, Alec Burks says he hopes to return to Heat early in free agency

Miami Herald

4 hours ago

As the Miami Heat waits on a resolution to the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, veteran guard Alec Burks will soon be working toward finding a resolution to his uncertain NBA future.
Burks, who will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason after proving to be a helpful veteran in his first season with the Heat this past season, hopes to strike a deal to return to Miami. He signed a one-year veteran minimum contract with the Heat last summer and again will likely need to settle for a minimum deal to re-sign with the Heat this summer.
'The only thing I'm looking at is coming back here,' Burks said of his desire to return to the Heat in free agency during a Tuesday appearance to interact and take photos with young campers at Jr. Heat Basketball Camp at Cooper City High School. 'Everything else is what it is.'
Burks, who turns 34 on July 20, can begin negotiating a potential new deal with the Heat as early as Friday if the Oklahoma City Thunder — now up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series — closes out the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night to win the championship. That's because the Heat and other NBA teams can begin negotiating with their own impending free agents on the day after the last game of the NBA Finals.
'I hope so,' Burks said when asked if there's a chance he could agree to a new deal with the Heat ahead of the June 30 start of league-wide free agent negotiations. 'Let's put that in the air.'
Why does Burks want to return to the Heat after playing for eight different teams through his first 14 NBA seasons?
'I just like being here,' Burks said Tuesday. 'I like the city. The city shows me a lot of love and my family, I like the organization, everybody I work with. It's just a great place to be for this stage of my career. I like being here.'
But the focus of the NBA world is on Durant, who is expected to be traded by the Phoenix Suns in the coming days. The Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets are Durant's three preferred trade destinations, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.
Charania also reported Monday that the Minnesota Timberwolves have been engaged with the Suns on a potential Durant trade, but Durant 'has no desire to be in Minnesota with the Timberwolves.'
This is important because Durant has just one season left on his contract, as he's due $54.7 million next season before he can become a free agent in the 2026 offseason.
Durant, who turns 37 on Sept. 29, is eligible to sign a two-year contract extension worth as much as $122 million following a potential trade.
The Heat is interested in acquiring Durant but doesn't want to offer all of its trade assets — meaning its top young players and all its available draft inventory — because he's entering his late 30s. The question is whether the Heat would be willing to include 21-year-old center Kel'el Ware in a potential deal for Durant after Ware made the NBA's All-Rookie second team for his work this past season.
Even though the Heat, Spurs and Rockets are Durant's preferred trade destinations, the Suns could still deal him elsewhere if another team is willing to take him in as a one-year rental on an expiring contract. The Toronto Raptors went that route when they traded for Kawhi Leonard in 2018 before winning the NBA championship with Leonard in 2019 and then losing him to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019 free agency.
According to report by The Athletic on Monday, the Suns have been underwhelmed by the offers from the Heat, Spurs and Rockets are hoping that Durant 'might warm to the Timberwolves possibility.' But the Athletic also reported 'the Timberwolves do not want to make a seismic change to a roster that advanced to the Western Conference finals if Durant is not on board with the move.'
Meanwhile, the Spurs have reportedly not been as aggressive as the Heat, Rockets and Timberwolves in pursuing a trade for Durant up to this point.
'I don't know,' Burks said when asked about the Durant noise. 'I'm not the one doing it, so I don't really have any comment on it. Whatever happens is going to happen.'
Durant is still one of the NBA's elite scorers even at this late stage of his career. He averaged 26.6 points, six rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 43 percent on six three-point attempts per game this past season for Suns in his 17th NBA season.
Durant and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic were the only two players in the league who averaged at least 25 points per game while shooting better than 50 percent from the field and better than 40 percent from three-point range last regular season.
As for Burks, he hopes he's not part of any potential roster changes this offseason.
Burks stayed ready even through inconsistent playing time in his first season with the Heat. After making just four starts in 36 appearances through the Heat's first 68 games this past regular season, Burks made 10 starts and 13 appearances over the Heat's final 14 games of the regular season and then went on to start both play-in tournament games before again falling out of the rotation in the first round of the playoffs.
Burks added efficient three-point shooting to the Heat's offense. He shot a career-best 42.5% from three-point range on 4.2 three-point attempts this regular season, finishing with the NBA's 10th-best three-point percentage among the 177 players around the league who took at least four threes per game this regular season.
'At this point in my career, I feel like I am who I am as a player,' Burks said. 'I know I can do more, but my role is what my role is and I strive in my role. So that's what I plan on getting better at.'