Miami Heat: Addition of Jimmy Butler sparks optimism for 2019-20

Storyline 3: A potential major trade looming

While the news had died down over the course of the offseason, the possibility of the Miami Heat making an additional major move has again resurfaced.

Although they missed out on acquiring All-Star Russell Westbrook after he was dealt to the Houston Rockets, the other player involved in that deal, Chris Paul, immediately sprung up as a secondary target.

So while there was speculation the Heat would dive head-first into a deal after missing out on Westbrook, those talks seemed to have subsided as the teams and players left for the summer.

But on the eve of training camps the Paul to Miami have again taken shape. Firstly, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported simply that the Heat “have a level of interest” in acquiring Paul, before going on to say that it will obviously require a number of large contracts going out the door in order for it to work.

Not long after this report surfaced, Zach Lowe of ESPN made a very compelling observation on a recent episode The Lowe Post podcast. When discussing the outlook of the Heat, Lowe noted:

"“I would be blown away if the Heat did not go through this season without making a significant trade.”"

These comments are pertinent, as Lowe was extremely confident entering this offseason that the Heat were going to be significant players. Thus, with the Butler deal accomplished, Pat Riley and the front office are clearly just as determined to land a second star in South Beach.

Aside from Paul, the likes of Kevin Love and Andre Iguodala — veteran players stuck on teams that are clearly in a rebuilding mode for the coming few seasons — are others that are going to be highly mentioned in the early stages of the season.