In case you may have missed it, the Miami Heat are officially listening to offers for star forward Jimmy Butler, who has a $52.4 million player option for next season that he’s likely to opt out of.
There are no assurances that Butler will be traded ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, less than two months from now. There are plenty of factors, including how Butler plays and, perhaps more importantly, how the Heat–currently on a three-game win streak at 12-10–are playing.
Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra downplayed Butler’s trade rumors Tuesday after practice, stating they are typically “gibberish.”
“It’s been our best, most consistent stretch of the season. So anything else, any other narrative, I don’t care,” he said, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Nobody should, because most of this stuff has just been all like a bunch of gibberish.”
Spoelstra stated that he didn’t mention Charania’s report to the team Tuesday–comparing it to what Tyler Herro had to endure year in and year out since his rookie season.
“I didn’t mention anything, just like I didn’t before (with Tyler Herro),” he said. “I think the biggest message is that fact that we’re 3-0 right now, this past week, and the player that was rumored in so many trades and speculations the last three years – it seemed like every week – that player is still here and is Player of the Week. So that’s really the only thing I’m thinking about.”
Herro, who’s been the Heat’s best player through the team’s first 22 games, said he was completely unaware of the report, which was published at approximately 9 a.m. EST Tuesday morning.
“I got to check my phone still this morning. I don’t know what was said,” Herro said. “The vibes felt good in here today, so I don’t know. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Butler, 35, declined to speak after practice–he doesn’t talk much after practice most of the time anyway.
In today’s day-and-age with social media, rumors and reports spread like wildfire. In the end, until it’s official, rumors are just, well, rumors.
It’s not expected that a teammate would earnestly comment about trade rumors that don’t involve them–nor should the head coach. The Heat are playing their best basketball of the season–albeit during a microscopic three-game sample–so any trade chatter months out should be the last thing on their minds.
Regardless of who leaked the report, all we know the Heat are doing their due diligence–and it makes complete sense too. Listening to offers doesn’t mean shopping him. You want to examine what the market dictates and see if potential suitors have the means necessary to potentially complete a trade, should that route be explored.
The proof will be in the pudding over the next several weeks about which direction this team goes in February–and beyond. What do you think regarding the Jimmy Butler trade speculation? Let us know in the comments!
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