The biggest surprise move of the NBA offseason may not have even happened yet. Even as the slowest part of the NBA summer rolls on, I don’t quite believe a Tyler Herro trade, as unexpected as it would be, is completely off the table for the Miami Heat.

With a little more than a month to decide what they want to do when he becomes extension eligible, a trade of Herro could still theoretically materialize before the start of the new season.

On October 1, Herro officially becomes eligible to sign a three-year, $150 million max contract extension with the Heat. It’s impossible to predict how those talks between Herro and the Heat will go, but if they do go south quickly, it could be in the best interest of Miami to explore his trade market.

Why the Heat may need to trade Tyler Herro

In a perfect world where a salary cap and a strict financial CBA don’t exist, the Heat would be able to pay Herro what he believes he deserves while also still pursuing another star player to add to the roster.

However, we don’t live in a perfect world, and I’m not sure how feasible it would be for the Heat to sign Herro to a rich extension and then still have room to pursue another big-name player over the next couple of seasons, especially considering Bam Adebayo is already sitting on a max contract extension himself.

In short, the Heat may have to trade Herro (to get out from under that huge expected contract bill) if they genuinely want to pursue another star player. If the Heat doesn’t believe a Herro-Bam foundational core is good enough to help push the team over the championship hump, something must be done.

As difficult as it would be to trade Herro, especially considering how much time and effort the organization has invested in his development, this may be the only logical path toward the Heat reemerging as a championship contender in the future.

October should clarify everything for the Heat, Herro

But much of that should be clarified over the next two months. Sitting down and having those early extension talks, if they haven’t already done that under the table, should give both the Heat and Herro some clarity.

And if there’s a realization in mid-October, or perhaps earlier, that the two sides are too far apart on talks, maybe that’s the moment when the idea of a trade is slowly introduced.

Either way, it would be foolish to completely discount that possibility right now. And, if we’re being completely honest, it may be the only pathway forward to the Heat acquiring a superstar talent in the future.