The Miami Heat have been linked to Chris Paul for a season or so now. Was he ever really in play for them this time around?
The Miami Heat are sure to be active in the next few days. The NBA is sure to heat up a bit more too as trades can officially happen.
We got one already though! And it’s a big one.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are sending a surefire future Hall Of Famer to the Phoenix suns. Here are the details, per the Twitter account of Adrian Wojnarowski.
"The deal sends Chris Paul and Abdel Nader to the Suns for Kelly Oubre, Ricky Rubio, Ty Jerome, Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN."
There is a question that remains though. That question is this.
Were the Miami Heat ever really in play here for Chris Paul’s services? Well, this isn’t the question, but they shouldn’t have been.
The Miami Heat were onto CP3 for a while, until they weren’t. Was he ever in play for them this time around?
That’s just a personal thing. He’s still a top tier player in the league, but with the Miami Heat’s current style of play, he wouldn’t have added as much to the team relative to the cost it would have taken to acquire him.
In answering the question at hand, we better kick it to someone who knows that just a little bit better. Here is what Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel had to say about it all.
This also should end any speculation about the Suns moving Devin Booker. https://t.co/DwS3YeROGl
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) November 16, 2020
That’s what we assumed as well. Not only did they “lack” the draft resources, but why would they have given them up to then have to take on CP3‘s salary?
It just doesn’t make a lot of sense if you are the Miami Heat. He even threw in a little nugget on Devin Booker as well and not that I totally agree.
With CP3 being a win-now move, who’s to say that if not successful, they decide to reset and build around Deandre Ayton? We are getting a bit ahead of ourselves, but hey, it could happen?
The Miami Heat didn’t land Chris Paul and I am not that mad about it, in fact, this should stop some of that talk for at least a season or so. Now, we can focus on the real and actual possibilities for improvement.