The Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler have looked like a match made in heaven, as the star has perfectly embodied the Heat’s culture since his arrival in 2019.
But with the team in a precarious spot this season, the possibility of the Miami parting ways with Butler has been floated around by some folks around the league, particularly an anonymous executive.
According to Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, the executive evoked memories of the six-time All-Star causing “some problems” in his previous stops with the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.
“He has a home in Miami, but we have seen Jimmy cause some problems in other places and no one has forgotten that,” the exec said. “Minnesota, Philadelphia, Chicago, he has some history, right? So that is a problem.”
With the Heat currently reeling and in danger of stumbling out of the postseason early, they could be dealing with a disgruntled Butler in the offseason. It has been a bit of a disappointing campaign for the proud organization, especially after it fell one game short of reaching the NBA Finals last season.
Defense has been a constant for Miami, as it has posted a top-five defensive rating during the 2022-23 campaign. In comparison, the squad finished the 2021-22 season ranked at the same spot in that department.
However, the offense side has regressed significantly for the Heat, ranking last in the league in average points this season with 108.6 points per contest.
Another potential problem the Heat might have to deal with, per the executive, is the fact that Butler is already 33 years old with a lot of mileage on his body.
“Then you have the fact that he is going to be 34 this summer,” the executive continued. “He has played well, his numbers have held up but he works so hard for everything he gets that you can imagine he is going to have a pretty quick drop-off once age catches up to him. That is another tough thing they’d have to deal with.”
This season, the four-time All-NBA selection has put up solid numbers, 22.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.9 steals per match. Furthermore, he has been shooting quite efficiently from the field, converting a career-high 52.8 percent of his shots.
So, worries about Butler seeing a drop-off in his production could be a bit premature. Even so, relying on him as the No. 1 option might not be the best idea, especially since he is a subpar outside shooter.
But if the Heat were to move forward with him, they would be paying him top money because of the four-year, $184 million contract extension they agreed to a couple of years ago.
The executive believes the writing is on the wall in regards to Miami eventually moving on from Butler.
“There is going to come a time where they will seriously look at moving Jimmy Butler but it is just going to be tough because, who is going to want to take that deal?” the executive added.
It remains to be seen if the Heat will even think of letting go of Butler. But they have more pressing matters to think about, as they have clearly not given up on this season. With the 6-foot-7 star leading the way, Miami still has a chance to make some noise in the postseason.
