Miami Heat Turn to 3 'Plan B' Options After Missing Out On LeBron

July 24, 2026 , ,
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The Miami Heat suffered a big blow when they were turned down by LeBron James this time around. Unlike in 2010, James did not take his talents to South Beach, but rather to the City of Brotherly Love. And with that, Pat Riley & Co. are forced to go to Plan B. 

At this point, it appears that the focus is now on three options to provide some of the scoring they'd hoped to get from LeBron. All are multi-time All-Stars who can put the biscuit in the basket.

Shams Charania reports that the Heat are turning their attention now to free agents DeMar DeRozan, Bradley Beal and Klay Thompson. 

We'd heard the report as far back as a couple of weeks ago that DeRozan would be a backup plan for Miami if they were stiffed by James. But DeRozan's former team, the Toronto Raptors, are also lurking as a potential destination. 

Jake Fischer reported just a couple of days ago that Bradley Beal would be a possible target of the Heat. Beal played just six games last season, and is a risk for any team due to his lack of availability in recent years. But the Heat are desperate for help in the backcourt in the scoring department after trading away Tyler Herro in the Giannis deal. 

And the former Splash Brother Thompson is expected to be either traded or waived by the Dallas Mavericks in short order. Anthony Chiang reported recently that "Among other shooters available, the Heat continues to hope that the Mavericks buy out Klay Thompson, who's due $17.1 million this season. But Dallas reportedly remains more inclined to try to trade him."


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