NBA Rumors: The Heat Is The Only Eligible Team That Could Trade For Chris Paul

Chris Paul's days as the "Point God" is officially over. The 34-year-old former All-Star was traded by the Rockets this offseason for Russell Westbrook. A trade that unloaded Paul's massive contract for a younger, more athletic guard in "Mr. Triple-Double."

As OKC prepares its rebuilding phase, post-Westbrook, Sam Presti inevitably finds Paul's presence in their roster counterintuitive. As the trade unfolded in the summer of 2019, folks at Oklahoma were not happy with the barter.

Since then, rumors have made its rounds among NBA executives, fans and players around the league. They all believe that Paul might be out of OKC very soon. A lot of people do not even expect the former Wake Forest standout to play a single game as a member of the Thunder.

It's a bizarre situation given Paul's solid numbers last season. Despite producing his lowest point production average in his career. "CP3" undoubtedly put up decent stats on the 2018-2019 NBA season. He scored 15.6 points per game while averaging 4.6 rebounds, 8.2 assists and two steals.

He shot the ball reasonably well, shooting at a 41.9 clip from the field, 35.8 percent from behind the arc and was solid at the line with an 86.2 average. So why is Paul, once considered as one of the NBA's best point guards, unwanted at OKC?

Bleacher Report's Preston Ellis has a compelling answer to the whole Chris Paul out-of-the-Thunder circus. According to Ellis, Chris has an "astronomical" three-year $124 million contract that sounds scary if you are a rebuilding team.

With nearly 40 percent of the NBA players signing deals this post-season, many aren't eligible to be dealt with until December 15. At this point, Ellis believes the Miami Heat is the only qualified team that could do a deal with OKC.

In case you haven't read the news, the Heat has been interested in Paul for weeks now, exploring the possibility of a Butler, Paul backcourt combo in Miami.

In the proposed trade, Ellis said that OKC would be trading CP3 and "a top-10 protected 2020 first-round pick to the Heat" for Goran Dragic and Kelly Olynyk.

The Heat still owes Goran $19.2 million-plus this year before becoming an unrestricted free agent in next season. Meanwhile, Kelly is owed $23.8 million-plus up until 2021.

It would necessarily equate Paul's massive contract. He is owed $83 million-plus until he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2022, but it would be enough for the trade.