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The Miami Heat fell short of winning the NBA championship, losing to the Denver Nuggets in five games during the NBA Finals. While they weren't the ones hoisting up the Larry O'Brien trophy, that doesn't take away from the impressive run to get to this point, which included knocking off the No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the postseason.

As miraculous as Miami's journey was, the team still ends the season without any shiny gold hardware to add to the trophy case, which means it's back to the drawing board for Pat Riley and the rest of the front office to figure out what this team needs to get over that hump next season. As the Heat prepare for an offseason that could reportedly involve going "hunting for a star" per ESPN's Brian Windhorst, Miami almost pulled that off back in February at the trade deadline. 

The Heat reportedly made an offer to the Brooklyn Nets for Kyrie Irving ahead of the trade deadline back in February, per The Athletic's Shams Charania. It's unclear exactly what was included in that trade offer to land Irving, but he ultimately ended up with the Dallas Mavericks. But just because Irving didn't head to South Beach earlier this season doesn't mean that still can't happen this summer. Charania didn't confirm if Irving was a target for the Heat this summer, but if Miami is interested in bringing in the mercurial All-Star point guard, he is an unrestricted free agent, so it is an option if they want to go down that road. 

Irving aside, though, Charania did say that the Heat will look around the league to evaluate what stars could be available this summer. That's not a surprising revelation given the Heat are known for trying to take big swings in the past. They missed out on Donovan Mitchell and Kevin Durant, and after losing again in the Finals, they surely won't stop in trying to pursue another All-Star level talent to pair with Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. 

The only issue with that plan, as my CBS Sports colleague Sam Quinn pointed out, is that the best offer Miami could put together is Tyler Herro and three future first-round picks. While Herro is a solid player, and draft picks have been worth their weight in gold lately, it's certainly not going to be enough to land someone like Damian Lillard, who just recently shared how he would want to play in Miami if he ever left Portland. The same is true for Joel Embiid, who would yield far better offers for the 76ers to consider. 

If Miami can't afford the cream of the crop of future potential disgruntled stars looking for an exit, perhaps they'll have to set their sights a little lower. Maybe Bradley Beal becomes a viable option. Beal's name has been in trade rumors for years, and while he and the Wizards have been adamant that he's not going anywhere, the lack of success in D.C., Beal's age, injury history and hefty contract could create the perfect situation for Miami to swoop in on.

Whomever Miami ends up targeting this summer, it's clear that this roster needs to improve if it wants to close the talent gap that existed between them and the Nuggets in the Finals. And while a clear path hasn't presented itself to figure that out, we all know better than to bet against Riley and the Heat.