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The Miami Heat-Jimmy Butler saga is in free-fall.
First the veteran All-Star forward months ago sort of kindly requested a trade. That request was quickly denied publicly by Hall of Fame and multi-time NBA champion Heat executive Pat Riley, who knows all too well the leverage game. If he was going to trade his high profile asset, he wanted to maintain the upper hand with interested suitors. Like a spoiled child, Butler went from nice to naughty in warp speed time. Sensing he wouldn’t get his wish for a change of scenery and ultimately a new shiny contract to go with it at age 35, he went full tantrum mode. Lacking effort in games, showing up late, not showing up at all and forcing the Heat to ultimately suspend him until further notice.
Currently sitting with a 23-23 record, a straight middle of the road 7th place standing in the Eastern Conference, there are a few ways Riley can go:
- Find a team desperate enough to match salaries for the remainder of Butler’s bloated $52 million contract this season. He is in the last year of his deal and it is doubtful the Heat would take any deals beyond this season unless they were clearly in their favor. It would take multiple players to match this number and the Heat would be looking for an expiring deal or deals to match salaries, plus a pick and maybe a young player to kick start a rebuild. Could have been done before Butler’s blow up, Good luck now to get any decent value in return.
- Sit Butler the rest of the season and let him walk for nothing after. This is the Al Davis method. The Heat and Riley are a good enough organization to order everyone who faces a microphone moving forward to utter the same phrase: “Were only talking about the players who are here.” The media can ask, the Heat will likely be united in their answer and after a while it will stop. Butler isn’t going to change his stance, Riley isn’t going to set a precedence of allowing players to snivel their way out of South Beach. Riley is in charge and he’s not going to allow Butler to get what he wants in a stare down which is a chance to get a new deal in a place he wants to be with a better chance to win.
- Release Butler. This would be worst case for Riley and the Heat. Butler probably has more dirty depths he can fall to with the goal of getting that new deal and team. The Heat would acknowledge the situation is dragging the team down and cut bait. Miami would have to believe this scenario is addition by subtraction. Problem is with or without Butler they aren’t contenders in the East, so why give Butler what he wants while sending the message to the team anyone who wants to bail can gripe their way out.
Where do the Warriors sit in this? Scenario number three. Hope the Heat get sick of Butler’s act and let him walk. I would see three teams then vying for his services. The three flawed old man teams in the West, the Lakers, Suns and Warriors. With nothing but a minimum salary at risk for the team and Butler likely on boy scout behavior trying to prove he still has it in hopes of an offseason deal, each one of these teams could benefit. The best part is they wouldn’t have to part with assets, none of those three has much to give in pursuit of one last gasp.
Anthony Slater of the Athletic acknowledged in a recent piece below the price has dropped considerably for the desperate Warriors to possibly reengage talks for Butler, but while the quality of player has dropped in return, the matching of salaries will not. NBA rules state if a team is over the cap to the level both Miami and Golden State are, trade salaries must match within 125% plus $100,000. Simply put, a trade involving Butler to the Warriors has to start with the salary of Wiggins which the way he is playing this season is a deal breaker.
