NBA News Roundup, Saturday, July 20th: Chris Paul could join Miami Heat on one condition, Lakers feel 'played' by Kawhi Leonard and more
The 2019 NBA offseason is now well underway, and most of the in-demand free agents around the league have already been snatched up. At this point, the remaining pool of available talent is pretty shallow and consists primarily of veterans looking to extend their careers via minimum deals.
However, teams have already started to look towards trades, and a number of major moves could still be in the works. So, with plenty going on around the NBA, here is all the latest news and rumors you need to know for July 20th.
Chris Paul could still head to the Miami Heat
Earlier this week, reports emerged that Chris Paul was set to stay with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the start of the 19-20 season. However, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, an offseason trade remains possible as long as Paul is willing to decline the final year of his existing three-year-deal:
The other thing I heard was that it was basically if Chris (Paul) wanted to get traded to the Heat now, he would maybe have had to have been willing to decline his player option.
Paul has a player option on the final year of his deal worth $44.2 million. The 2021-22 season will be Paul's age-36 campaign, and the former All-Star is also set to earn more than $80 million over the next two years.
This puts the point guard among the NBA's top earners, and the Oklahoma City Thunder are believed to be keen to offload his contract as quickly as possible. However, if CP3 refuses to waive the final year of his deal, he could find himself in a mentorship role on a young OKC roster.