NBA Rumors: Miami Heat have emerged as a dark horse for Jalen Brunson

NBA Rumors: According to recent reports, the Miami Heat have emerged as a dark horse landing spot for Jalen Brunson in free agency.

Jalen Brunson is expected to be one of the bigger names heading into free agency and it all but appeared that the New York Knicks were going to be his landing spot. If anything fell through, the Dallas Mavericks would be there waiting to re-sign him.

However, as is nearly the case for every big-name free agent, a dark horse landing spot has come into the light.

According to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, the Miami Heat have emerged as a darkhorse landing spot for Brunson when free agency opens. At the very least, they’re going to get a “meeting,” which was requested by Brunson’s camp.

Naturally, especially considering everything that’s been reported about Brunson so far in free agency, you’d have to be skeptical from a Miami perspective.

For one, the meeting was requested by Brunson’s camp. And two, the Heat don’t have cap space for Brunson and would have to work a sign-and-trade with Dallas. Plus, Kyle Lowry is still on the roster and was just acquired by the Heat a year ago.

Nevertheless, even if it’s a small chance, I don’t think it would be smart to count out Pat Riley and the Heat. Let’s make it no mistake; if Brunson is leaving, they’d probably prefer he secure a sign-and-trade deal rather than leaving outright. And that means the Heat may have a shot.

I’d still expect Brunson to sign with the Knicks but it’s still somewhat interesting that Miami managed to slide into the backdoor for a meeting. We shall see if anything comes of it. But I’d still have my reservations if I was a Heat fan.