The Miami Heat were rumored as a potential trade destination for Chris Paul earlier in the offseason, but any talks have been rather dormant of late. The Athletic's Shams Charania reported earlier this week that the Heat still do have interest in the Oklahoma City Thunder point guard as the season approaches, but Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald outlined why Miami isn't expecting a trade to get done at this time:

Basically, while the Heat believe Paul is still an effective player, they also think his massive contract warrants some sweeteners coming their way. The 34-year-old is owed $38.5 million this season, $41.4 million next season and then a whopping $44.2 million in 2021-22. While the last year of the deal is a player option, there's little reason to believe Paul will be giving up that money.

The Thunder apparently don't think they need to give up much to get Paul and his bloated contract off their hands. However, it should be noted that they acquired CP3 from the Houston Rockets along with two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps for Russell Westbrook. While the Rockets obviously needed to include draft assets along with Paul to get the superior player in Westbrook, the fact it took that much shows how much CP3's value as an asset has declined.

Miami would like to pair new star Jimmy Butler with another star, but Pat Riley shouldn't want to rush into a deal for an aging point guard. Meanwhile, OKC has built up an impressive stash of draft assets and doesn't want to start dipping into those just to get a good player off the roster, even if he's on the downswing.

Perhaps these two franchises can find a middle ground as time goes on.