Kyrie Irving Rumors: Heat Made Offer to Nets at 2023 NBA Trade Deadline

Before he was dealt to the Dallas Mavericks, Kyrie Irving was on the radar for the Miami Heat leading up to the NBA trade deadline.

On FanDuel TV, Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported the Heat made a trade offer to the Brooklyn Nets "right before" the eight-time All-Star was moved to Dallas on Feb. 6.

Dallas acquired Irving and Markieff Morris from the Nets in exchange for Dorian Finney-Smith, Spencer Dinwiddie and three draft picks, including a 2029 unprotected first-rounder.

The Heat's postseason run ended Monday night with a 94-89 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

At the end of the regular season, expectations were incredibly muted for this Miami team. They finished seventh overall in the Eastern Conference with a 44-38 record and lost by 11 to the Atlanta Hawks in their first play-in tournament game.

After surviving a close call against the Chicago Bulls in the second play-in tournament game to earn the No. 8 seed, the Heat went on to eliminate the top two teams in the East (Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics) and the New York Knicks to reach the Finals.

Miami finished the postseason with seven losses in its final nine games after taking a 3-0 series lead against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

After coming up short in the NBA Finals for the second time in the past four seasons, the Heat could look to make a big splash this offseason.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said Tuesday on The Hoop Collective Podcast (starts at 26:05 mark) the Heat are "keeping an eye" on star players who might look for a trade over the summer.

Damian Lillard has cited Miami as a potential landing spot in a hypothetical trade scenario, but the Portland Trail Blazers seem likely to try to build around the 32-year-old for at least one more season.

If the Heat had interest in Irving, they would most likely have to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Dallas Mavericks to make it happen. ESPN's Bobby Marks noted they are over the luxury tax next season with $176 million in salary commitments factoring in their first-round draft pick (No. 18 overall) and Victor Oladipo's $9.5 million player option.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported last week Irving has "consistently expressed a desire" to remain in Dallas with Luka Dončić.

Irving appeared in 60 games last season between the Nets and Mavs. He averaged 27.1 points on 49.4 percent shooting (37.9 percent from three-point range), 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds.