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A disappointing and injury plagued 2023-2024 NBA season has officially come to an end for the Miami Heat. They fell short to the rival Boston Celtics in a gentleman sweep out of the postseason’s first round last night. Now, all the attention is towards the direction the Heat front office goes this summer, including Jimmy Butler.
Currently, Butler is set to make $48M next season and under contract for two more seasons. However, that might not be enough for the team’s franchise player.
According to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald, Butler is seeking a two-year $113M max contract extension this summer. It is speculated that any failure to meet Butler’s demands will cause him to become disgruntled.
If that happens, it could create some ugly controversy. Plenty of fans are familiar with how Butler’s situations played out with all three of the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers.
Unfortunately for Butler, leverage is not on his side considering he is about to enter his age 35 season and coming off a season-ending knee injury. He was not able to play in the Heat’s second play-in game or during the entire Boston series.
Surely the Heat front office could choose to award Butler’s efforts over his five-year Heat stint. He brought the franchise to heights that nobody expected, including two trips to the NBA Finals and one Eastern Conference finals over the last five years. But doing so would make Miami less flexible to bring in star-level help for Butler and this Heat team.
He is still an All-Star caliber player in this league and borderline All-NBA talent, regardless of his regular season availability. Butler appeared in 60 out of the 82-game schedule this season and has never eclipsed the 64 games played mark during his Miami tenure.
With all the circumstances considered, hopefully these two sides can come to a happy medium here. Butler still has “playoff Jimmy” abilities in him, and both sides can maximize this build with both him and Bam Adebayo over the next couple seasons. Even if doing so comes with unloading some other hefty contracts (Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier) to bring in another big piece and meet Butler’s needs.
He finished this season with averages of 20.8 points, 5.0 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals on 50% shooting, 41% from 3-point range (career high) and nearly 86% from the free-throw line.
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While the Heat have a tough decision to make regarding Jimmy Butler’s contract extension, waiting for a potential offer from the 76ers could be a strategic move. Considering Butler’s age and injury history, exploring all options before committing to a max extension seems prudent. Let’s see how negotiations unfold!
Jimmy is starting a new business, with talking trash to NY and Boston players.
“Big mouth coffee”
I am also seeking a two year, $113 million dollar contract extension from my job. I would even be willing to accept half of that. I’ll let you guys know how it works out.
Nope I do not want to give an aging, injury prone Jimmy Butler 57M per yr.
No Thanks.
Just my opinion.
Jimmy guaranteeing that the Heat would have sent the Celtics packing if he had played is hilarious. What an ego.
He also guaranteed that he would beat the New Orleans pelicans. And didn’t.
No need for us to go crazy spinning our wheels getting creative with trade ideas. After listening to Spo’s exit interview, it’s obvious he expects Butler and Herro to be back with the team next year. Same with Bam, Jaquez and Jovic.
It appears the Heat may be looking to extend Jimmy’s contract and “run it back” with the same folks and only make tweeks around the edges. If nothing else, I expect them to draft or trade for a center, since neither ORob or Bryant appear to be up to the job. Oh well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFdyTQpWwiE
P.S. Take a break guys. Save your creative energy for the draft.
Welcome to mediocrity picking in the high teens and playing in the play in with nothing exciting happening cause of his style of play and others for these next however many years he is on this team. Who’s gonna tell him to take the reg season seriously after signing that ext? Pat?andy?spo? (Same coach he faced off with and UD had to step in) Sad really as I look at teams like okc and Minnesota that have suffered but endured in the end and now look at both of them. Will be perennial contenders for years, talent all over the court and not whale chasing just home grown star players. Hell I even like at Orlando with that same envy and joy for those franchises that weren’t afraid to do want needed to be done.
They may very well run it back, but they are going to run it back without likely Caleb and Haywood. If they really are serious about winning, it’s time to move on from Jimmy. Otherwise we can welcome mediocrity/or slightly worse, followed by a delayed rebuild (where hopefully Riley hasn’t overpaid every mid level guy on the team).
If Miami is going to get better and run it back, we’re going to need Jovic to turn into Jokic. Jimmy to find a time machine to back when he played more than 60 games First half Jaquez, not second half Jaquez, etc. etc.
This team has fallen behind others in the east, has no cap room, no lottery pick, and minimal future assets to trade…not an enviable situation.
In 2023-2024, despite all the injuries, the Heat finished 46-36, a winning percentage of .561. Miami was 13-9 with Jimmy out of the line-up (.591) and 33-27 with him in the line-up (.550). Projected over 82 games, that is 48.5 wins without Jimmy, good enough for 4th place, right behind Milwaukee at 49-33 and New York at 50-32, assuming neither of the two extra wins were against the Bucks or Knicks.
In league-wide standings, Miami without Jimmy, would have finished tied with Cleveland for 4th place in the East, two games behind second place New York and just 3 games behind the NBA’s 5th overall team, the L.A. Clippers, who were 51-31. In other words, Miami has a good core of players without Jimmy. With a couple of shrewd trades, Miami could be better…much better.
Miami needs a Center or, at minimum a solid two-way PF. Bam has difficulties doing all he does by himself, guarding the paint, perimeter, rebounding, scoring, passing, setting screens, etc. If Miami had a C/PF who could help handle the inside duties effectively (rebounding, scoring, guarding the paint, spreading the floor, etc.,) it would free Bam up to be a true force everywhere else. If that C/PF was mobile and could shoot the three ball, even better. Someone like Jaren Jackson Jr. of Memphis. Other possible acceptable alternatives would be Miles Turner, Nikola Vucevic, Wendell Carter, Isaiah Hartenstein or Isaiah Stewart.
Miami needs a reliable SG. Herro is not reliable offensively and is not a two-way player. A player like Dejounte Murray would work very well in the Miami system. Other possible alternatives are Demar DeRozan, Donovan Mitchell, Desmond Bane, C.J. McCallum.
If the SG and PF/C slots are filled by trading Butler and Herro, Jaquez and Jovic could compete for the SF position. If that happened, Miami could be a better overall team and potentially a younger/faster team, without having to go through a rebuilding process.
this is cold…but really funny! 😁😂
orl tanked traded everybody now have a nice young team.only gonna get better
Didn’t take longer either was just in the playoffs in the bubble. Trade Jimmy Herro Robinson Martin get rid of love and go from there, can get decent off not 1 up and coming player with Jimmy alone. Bam terry the young guy from Jimmy couple of good 2way fillers 15th pick with spo coaching in a weak eastern conference and they will be alright. I’m not as doom and gloom as everyone who is scared of a rebuild Mia is due.
The problem is Riley. He is so intent on not rebuilding he would rather have a mediocre team. He wants to retire with a fight, not by laying the foundation for the team’s next chapter. Unfortunately, Pat is still stuck in the past while the rest of the league has passed him by. Time to change with the times Pat or retire. The team doesn’t need a monster center, they just need one tall enough to protect the paint, grab rebounds, block shots and hit mid-range shots so Bam can move to PF.
cleve is donovan and a bunch of so so players
donovan mitchell is. tyler herro we were all hoping (isn’t),if tyler herro is on this team i will —–
Reading all the scenarios here, thanks for the details and possibilities guys, id hate to be in Pat’s shoes. This maybe a crossroad for the Heat. Might not contend for years to come just making first rnd exits. Or worse no playoffs at all. Is tanking an option? I cringe at the thought of that. I was hoping Bam would expand his offensive arsenal and improve to 25-30pts per game. But he’s stuck in that jump shot and the occasional lob. He can still improve but when? Sad that window of opportunity has closed for this group. Could’ve at least won one chip. Oh well, Go Heat…
he is what he is limited offensive player. watch banchero a real baller
What do you expect though? Paolo was the number 1 pick, and bam was at 14. I still think bam can get better, he’s starting to shoot more 3s, and I think next season he’ll shoot 3 – 4 attempts from 3. If we trade Jimmy and others, that will give bam more shot attempts. I can see bam being 23- 25 point scorer with an added 3 point shot in his arsenal, he’s already shooting 35.7 percent from 3 on limited attempts. Imagine if he shoots more 3s with added fastbreak points. We would play a more uptempo game like young teams without jimmy.
Love Jimmy… he’s had a great career and run here with the Heat. But reality is calling. As many of you have stated…at this stage in his career he’s not a max player going forward. Don’t think Pat will have any problem saying goodbye to his entitled demands. It’s business now…let the chips fall. Jimmy can go check with Wade now to see how that worked out for him.
I may have been amongst the biggest Jimmy fans here, and I say trade him, move on. He was a low A+ player, now he’s a solid A player. His recent injury history, his other interests, and some indications on the court of him settling more for outside shots, particularly in crunch time, make signing him a risk not worth taking. His style of play, driving and getting to the foul line a lot, has to take its toll over time and it is likely his efficiency will continue to diminish along with his availability.
And no one can say for sure, but my interpretation of the way he went about his max request, is he wants to force Pat to trade him.
And, he will still bring us a pretty good haul as he will still be quite good for at least another year. I doubt he carries a team again, but he can be the last piece to get a team deep into the playoffs.
lebron gets ham fired jj reddick next ?
The only one he has tried to fire unsuccessfully is Spo! He calls the shots on who to recruit then blames coaches when team fails. Between him and KD, they should have had at least three more rings each. Primadonna mf’s.
What exactly this mean?
He has a 2 year contract, the second one is a player option. Does two year extension sits on the top of first two years and we talk about 4 years from this summer, or one of those years is cut, and this will be basically a 3 year contract from this summer?
In every case, he didn’t earned his money this year, and not because his injury.
It seems to me that he was blocked more past year then in three year before that combined.
It would be 4 more years under contract averaging more than $50 million a year for a player who takes the regular season off.
Well, I m sure Heat has a good insight where Butler is physically and mentally, and they will make the right decision. Still, I dont understand how Butler has the face to ask for this. He should ask for a paycut.
Jimmy’s request tells me he wants to get paid max money or get traded…of course (ala Dame) to the team of his choice.
If I were a betting person, I think he would prefer to get traded to the Knicks, Nets, Clippers, Lakers, or back home to Texas (Houston, San Antonio or Dallas). Preferably, he would want to get traded to a team in a big market area which has a good chance of winning a championship within the next couple of years.
The L.A. and NY areas give him the maximum media exposure for his outside interests (Big Face Coffee, television commercials and country music). Texas allows him to go back home and continue his outside interests (with a bigger focus on his country music ambitions).
On the other hand, Butler may be happy where he is. His initial max demand may just be a bargaining position so he can drop his price a couple of million bucks and say Miami is getting a big deal. Who knows. Any way you look at it, Jimmy no longer fits the team’s timeline and has to go.
Yep, it seems that way. Still, I have a feeling, that he wont go soon, easy and quiet. Its just not his style.
My heart says it wants Jimmy to stay because he took us to multiple finals, also everybody on the team loves jimmy, and he said he wants to retire with us. My brain says trade him away, he can give a list teams that he wants to go to compete, and win a championship. Also we could retool and get picks and players for the future. Verdict? I’m leaning towards trading him because if history tells us, Riley didn’t pay wade the money he wanted, and guess who got Jimmy here…..wade. Wade absolutely gave advice to Jimmy because he’s been in the same situation. Honestly though, If Jimmy was really wants to win a championship, he has to go the way like wade. Jimmy has to take a paycut, and stay committed to the season, so he can allow Riley to improve the team. Idk what’s gonna happen………. SO LET’S WAIT AND FIND OUT.
Wade was exactly in the same position, true. He wants more money he was worth at that time, knowing that he has not much left and team wont go far with him.
Riley declined and he went in Chicago.
If Jimmy leaves, next season is a gap year, no doubt about that, but the team would be full of young, interesting players.
If Jimmy stays, there would be the last attempt to win it all, and a whale is coming in Miami.
I m more for organic growth, so I prefer to trade Jimmy.
You know, BG, I’m not convinced that everybody loves him. He seems to wear out his welcome over time. If you asked a bunch of your friends to help you move furniture and one calls at the last minute to say he can’t make it, and you knew he was out partying all night, you might view that person differently.
Fair point, but I don’t think it totally changes the outlook of that person, if he did help you out to move last time before this time.
If Jimmy, and Herro are traded, the only true starters the Heat will have left are Bam and Rozier. Therefore, Miami will need an all-star and another starter in return. Jaquez and Jovic are very good rotation players, but neither is ready to step into a two-way starting roll scoring 15-20 points per game.
If Miami can pull off trades for a very good two-way SG and a SF, plus a higher draft pick than we currently have (15), we might be able to draft a center who can eventually step into the starting roll and move Bam to PF, his natural position.
Another option is to clean house of all older players, accumulate all the young assets and draft picks possible and rebuild around our younger players. Many options for Pat to explore. It should be an interesting process.
Excerpts from Dave Hyde:
”Let’s just come out and say it: The Heat can’t extend Jimmy Butler’s contract as NBA convention mandates. They can’t pay him $113 million for two re-done years and keep him until 38.
They have to trade him this offseason, if possible, or live with the unsettling consequences of his playing out the two remaining years on his current deal. It should be open to trading everyone but Bam Adebayo, really, considering this blah roster wasn’t just a healthy Butler from beating Boston in these playoffs.”
And
”Do you want to deal with Regular-Season Jimmy, too? This Jimmy is a prime reason the Heat were a play-in team in the first place over the last two years, too. He put up decent numbers. He also treated the regular season like a dental appointment.
Three games into the season, he took a rest day. The day after watching tennis for eight hours, he called in sick. A team that markets, “Heat Culture,” had to look the other way at such antics with a contending team. Do they keep looking away with a mediocre team?”
Ouch! Lots of facts in there RC, I’m for keeping Jimmy but really high risk. Big chance he’ll do what he did in regular season but Pat might be able to talk it out and Jimmy gives him a discount and not a max extension. Possible? We’ll see.
I don’t think a discount makes sense honestly. I hate says it’s move on or bust, but, how can we expect a better roster with no cap space, limited draft picks, an aged super star and key role players leaving?
Keeping Jimmy, losing Caleb and HH, trading off Herro+Jovic or Jaquez + pick(s), really make Miami a contender?
I mean say they get Donovan Mitchell for that package above – are you taking a core of Rozier, Mitchell, Butler and Adebayo with g leaguers over Boston?
Miamis got a very short window to win with Jimmy and they don’t have the assets to add. Paying Jimmy means running it back and hoping you can replace Caleb Martin and Haywood with minimum guys.
I’m afraid that window has closed already. I’m just gonna go with what Pat cooks up.
Agree with Dave and at least the smart ones here that say it’s best if we just moved on from Jimmy, been an absolute thrill and hell maybe come back to retire on one of them day/retire contracts. Mia should be looking toward the future and Jimmy Butler shouldn’t be part of it I’m not saying I’m just saying
Agree with this 100%. Too much money for a “Playoff Jimmy”. Even if he is healthy next post-season the odds are not good the Heat go to the Finals. Moving on from an injury plagued Kyle Lowry sent some kind of message but I don’t know how to interpret it. It seems that move would have pissed Jimmy off.
every shot that is taken shtein seems to bat the ball out for a second shot.dont think ive seen bam do that one time the whole year
i can see jimmy playing for thibs again not a p
knicks just got another offensive rebound .that won them the game p
these playoff games just drive the point home why u need dawgs not duncs
Welcome to Cancun, Sixers. Allstar vacay vets…Joel, Jimmy, Dame, Giannis, who else to complete starting five? Only vets 30yo up 😁😜
lebron ad steph kd take your pick.youngens beating oldenns
East only bro…but no Lowry pls lol
a dynamic bc maxey and lowry,how do u like phildelphias best now phily fans lol.man if a player is more done than kyle pls let me know.turtle time got kyle lol
Tobias harris was awful with 0 points from a 3rd option 😳 they really messed choosing him over Jimmy lol
lowry ?
⬇️
Lowry almost always play bad that ain’t nothing new
wonder if sixers will be interested for Tobias-Jimmy swap lol
Might as well bring back Lowry too 😬
Harris and Lowry 0 points in a 3 point game
lowry played to his scoring avg like 1 pt a game so he had his normal game.tobias 2 fkn shots 0 points not sure what your contract staus is(rc will know that)but dont think u will playing bball in phily anymore.
Made $39 million this season, now ufa.
go heat
jalen brunson better than brown or tatum
i want 3 josh hart harteshtein type players riley get to work pls consult sunman before u take your next cruise
Hartenstein will be a free agent
wow hes as good as bam?be real
No he isn’t as good, but he would be a pick up for any team that needs a reliable center. He’s better then precious, and Mitchell Robinson.
Knicks aren’t going to let him go.
Well there’s better options anyway.
those shot put shots seem to always go in.those offensive rebounds always seem to hit his hands.bam. looks the part got the prototypical pf body.both are good players overall dont see whole lot difference
Figures you wouldn’t. Hartenstein 8/8/3, Bam 19/10/4 even though he averaged more minutes. Bam can guard most 1-5s. I doubt Hartenstein can – at least he hasn’t yet. Your comparison is the result of basketball Cupid hitting you with an arrow causing you to go all googly eyed, leaving you in love with the flavor of the moment. He is a good player who would look good in a Heat uniform. Equal to Bam? No.
brunson og randle hart divi there to score hes there to do the dirty. work give him ball he can score as good as bam watch the games just dont look on espn.com
When I see it, I’ll let you know
Haha! That frequent knee-jerk reaction resulted in those googly eyes 😆😂
knicks in one game get more offensive rebounds than the heat get for a season
rileys been very good gm last few years no p
Bladder problem?
lol p means fact got that from 2qbn
Don’t give a crap about his numbers, Embiid is not a big time player.
p
7 ft james harden
ny phil series one of the best series ever
Ever? Lolol!!!! You have a very short attention span. Wow! There’s been many many great series. Was this an exciting back and forth heavyweight fight? Sure. And don’t ask me which were better, you can do your own research. Start with Ray Allen.
The wild berry be wild
blueberries a fav yes
the pt is great great series
I’ll lol ur lolol…LOL!!
DONT TRUST THE PROCESS!
embid never wins yes,hes a dirty player deserves no rings f him
remember few years ago randle lit us up for 50 he was playing with nobody
josh hart wow bigtime shot
riley failed jb
Injuries failed jb
this year yes prime jimmy pat
How exactly. And don’t make a dumb general statement like he didn’t get the right players to compliment him. Be specific as to who and if the cap numbers would work.
He’s just letting the Bartles & James talk, like always.
bartles and james .u mean dwade and james
ob toppin josh hart could be had for squat
Hart hit a big time 3
and Bam will need his own supermax too…i think its bad to hitch your wagon on Jimmy/Bam. Both are excellent defenders, plays hard, but offensively-challenged. we had to rely on Tyler on most occasions.
If I’m bam and they sign Jimmy I’m out
ny gm mvp
sunman who do u see as the next josh hart
Obi Toppin
good one knicks could use him tonight.
the knick gm in last 3 years has acquired brunson og hart dante shtein deuce not so precious the only holdover is randle and maybe mitch what a job he has done.pat the heat needs u to hit a home run this offseason.youve been hitting singles lately
This is such a silly comment. The Heat have been to two Finals and were a shot away from a 3rd. The Knicks haven’t been out of the 2nd round.
and from here on
They won’t even make one.
think they beat phily prob game 7
It might even be tonight. I still don’t see them beating Boston if they are able to get past the Pacers. A flashback series of Hicks vs Knicks
the knicks have been so bad since ewing but last couple years their gm built a great team talking about being silly
Your NY is showing
hate all ny teams the most of any city.id like to see dirty joel lose
‘ny gm mvp’
Seems so
Pacers GM MVP
HHH GM MVP
Boston gm mvp
Hey now!
Lol just messing around 😅
With no ignore button, that GM should be fired
Sure glad Miami didn’t catch a so-called whale in the offseason. Beale and Dame and their big ass contracts are out after one round. With Jimmy, Heat would have been stuck with two max contracts plus (Bam and Herro). Sure dodged that bullet. All the more reason to get rid of Jimmy now while the gettin is good.
Bucks eliminated. Maybe Dame shouldn’t have played. NY early run. Lets Go Heat! 😁
heat playing tonight?
For RC., a list of offseason acquisitions by the Heat, 20-21, got Harkless and Bradley, drafted Precious, got Strus from the Bulls.
21-22, got Lowry, Markieff, Martin and PJ.
22-23 Dedmon, ORob, VO, drafted Jovic.
23-24 JRich, Bryant, drafted JJJ
Haha, thanks. I’d say at least 50% of those were good pickups. Obvious exceptions were Harkless, Bradley, Morris, and maybe Bryant. Dedmon was a decent backup for about 1 1/2 years. The Oladipo injuries were heartbreaking.
Some small scale hits and misses. Except VO, that was going for a third option, a real support system for Jimmy. At least he tried.
Jimmy needs to be reasonable. Hoping the two sides gets to a favorable settlement. The article said “It is speculated that any failure to meet Butler’s demands will cause him to become disgruntled.” Speculated. So it did not came right out from horse’s mouth. Yet. Pat’s job to make Jimmy realize he was a pedestrian during the regular season and could’ve won a couple more games thus avoiding the play-in, avoiding the injury and maybe faced off with Milw or Cavs in first round. And we might still be having game threads now 😳🙄🤔
Teams that have the surplus draft picks to trade for Jimmy (see draft picks, by team, below)
OKC, Brooklyn, Utah, San Antonio, Washington, Houston, Knicks, Orlando
Teams that have players to trade for Jimmy
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Pacers, Clippers, Lakers, Grizzlies, Bucks, Pelicans, Knicks, OKC, Orlando, 76ers, Utah, Washington
If you look at contending or up-and-coming teams with both draft picks and players they could make available to acquire Jimmy, the choices look like: OKC, Utah, Houston, Knicks, Orlando. With the exception of Utah, I think a trade with one of the remaining four teams is likely.
Draft picks, by team, 2024-2030
https://www.lineups.com/articles/nba-future-draft-picks/
Very interesting, realistically, I think Jimmy preferred destinations would likely be philly,clippers,okc,knicks,Houston. If he does have okc, knicks, or Houston, that would hit our sweet spot, and allow us to get good draft assets, and young role players like you said. If Philly and clippers are on the top of his list, then we may need to do a 3 team trade to extract as much as we can. Of all those markets Philly and NYC has the biggest markets to grow his brand. In Philly he has his buddies Lowry and embiid. NYC is the biggest market in the NBA and he loves his money, and coffee. If Jimmy get on Knicks they would be 2nd best team in the east, and same could be said for Philly. I like Knicks assets and players over Philly, and Philly isn’t giving up Maxey. His sleeper choice would probably be clippers because he friends with Leonard, also okc might be another but there style of play contradicts his slow pace, half court style. Houston is close to his hometown, but the west is probably too loaded for them to make a dent, even with Sengun, and Jabari. It’s a lot of factors for each team, I just hope we can get a good package of picks,swaps, and young ascending role players.
I think there are two teams on that list where Jimmy is all they need more to win a championship, the Knicks and OKC, and OKC doesn’t match as well. That what we should do, for Jimmy, to reward him. Give him a max contract, I don’t think so.
At the trade deadline, I suggested OKC might be the perfect location for him as that one missing key piece. I didn’t consider the Knicks due to the rivalry, but that would also be a great fit. Both teams have players and picks that would definitely help us.
And, trading in the division isn’t so bad, as, if you trade Jimmy, we are likely not going to the playoffs for two years. By the time we are ready to compete again, Jimmy will be wasting a contract year playing sporadically.
The Knicks? Yeah, that’s gonna be a no for me, dawg. 😛 😛
he should give us a discount. salary cap thief unmotivated oft injured ex ss no thanks
Jimmy has made Pat’s job very easy. He now has to face the reality of re-tooling/re-building. Time to get on the phones and play “Let’s Make A Deal.” Now Jimmy can take all the “personal time” he wants to do commercials and record country music.
As I said before…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc2oBBcf7yo
The video link adds a nice touch, capturing the sentiment perfectly.
Give him that and this franchise is screwed
Yeah, that’s gonna be a no for me, dawg.