Last year’s effort by the Miami Heat to acquire stat veteran Jimmy Butler came up short.
However, a new report indicates that with Butler set to enter the free agent market, the Heat will have a second opportunity to put Butler in their starting lineup.
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Exactly how the Heat will manage to sign Butler remains a mystery, given the current salary-cap issues they’re facing this offseason. The team has multiple contracts of veteran players who the Heat have sought to trade, with no takers.
Still, the opportunity to sign the 6-foot-8 Butler is something that the Heat can’t afford to pass up. This past season, he averaged 18.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game, numbers that were similar to those of the first eight years of his career.
Butler, who turns 30 in September, is expected to be one of the most sought-after free agents this summer, which likely makes the Heat’s task that much harder.
Last year, trade negotiations with the Minnesota Timberwolves between Heat team president Pat Riley and then-Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau collapsed.
The breakdown came after Thibodeau reportedly asked for an additional $5 million from the Heat. That was in addition to the proposed deal that would have sent Josh Richardson, Kelly Olynyk and a future first-round pick to the Timberwolves. When the Heat refused, Butler was ultimately traded to Philadelphia.
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