2. Hassan Whiteside traded to the Portland Trail Blazers
It seemed as if Miami was trending toward freeing up salary to sign Butler to a max contract, with a report from Marc Stein that the Dallas Mavericks were acquiring Derrick Jones Jr. and Kelly Olynyk. It appeared as if Goran Dragic was headed to Dallas. Then plans changed when the Mavericks wanted more cap flexibility.
Suddenly, it was reported that the salaries did not align and the Mavericks decided to pull out of the deal. Miami quickly had to pivot and find a way to move off of one of their many big salary deals. With the rise of Bam Adebayo in the final months of the previous season and Hassan Whiteside’s play declining, Woj announced that Miami was moving off of Whiteside’s expiring deal. The Heat traded Whiteside to the Portland Trail Blazers for Meyers Leonard and Mo Harkless.
Miami is finalizing a trade to send center Hassan Whiteside to Portland for Mo Harkless and Meyers Leonard, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 1, 2019
The ball began to roll in the right direction for the Heat, and a four-team trade was eventually finalized between the Heat, Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers and the Philadelphia 76ers to conclude one of the biggest summers in Heat history.