The Heat are open to listening to trade inquiries on star forward Jimmy Butler and making a deal if they get an offer they like, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Insider link).
Reporting in the wake of Miami’s elimination from the 2024 playoffs indicated that Butler would be seeking a maximum-salary extension during the offseason. Asked about that possibility during his end-of-season press conference, president of basketball operations Pat Riley expressed reluctance to make that sort of financial investment in a player “unless you have someone who is going to be available every night,” a reference to Butler’s injury issues in recent seasons.
Butler subsequently decided to put off extension discussions and remain with the Heat rather than pushing for a trade.
As Charania writes, the 35-year-old still has a strong affinity for Miami and has been professional throughout this season, but with the Heat having hovered around play-in territory for the last couple years and Butler potentially reaching free agency at season’s end, the front office has been “open-minded” about trade inquires.
According to Charania, Butler’s agent Bernie Lee has made it clear in league circles that Butler would be open to destinations like the Rockets, Mavericks, and Warriors. While Butler is a Texas native, his top priority in the event of a trade is believed to be joining a team capable of contending for a championship.
Teams, including the Heat, have been informed that Butler intends to turn down his $52.4MM player option for the 2025/26 season in order to become a free agent next summer, sources tell ESPN. Still, given that few teams project to have significant cap room in 2025, the club that has Butler on its roster at the end of the season would likely be the favorite to re-sign him, since that club would hold his Bird rights.
Butler has missed five games for health reasons so far this season, but has been effective in his 17 outings, averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in 32.1 minutes per game, with a .557/.360/.787 shooting line. The Heat have gone 10-7 in the games he has played and have a record of 2-3 when he’s been out.
take the warriors off that list since they do not have the matching money to trade for Butler. they would need to trade Wiggins, Melton, and Payton just to match the amount of money so they would trade away all their defense to get him plus draft picks. They would be a worse team with Butler.
I’d really appreciate it if you could see if this all works out money-wise, arc89.
I think the time is swiftly approaching to move off of Kuminga and, to a slightly lesser degree, Wiggins.
KUMINGA and the rest of MELTON’s 2024-25 salary to Chicago for VUCEVIC
……followed by the next stunner…….
WIGGINS, PODZIEMSKI, GP2, JACKSON-DAVIS and a future 1st
JIMMY BUCKETS, JAQUEZ, HIGHSMITH, and two future 2nds
The thinking with Jimmy Buckets coming on board is both parties get to have a trial run to see if it’s a fit for 2026 and possibly ‘27 seasons. If Jimmy doesn’t get his kicks with Steph and Dray, he declines his option and goes elsewhere – and the money that woulda been used to feed Jimmy’s lifestyle goes to another ‘25 free agent. And won’t Looney come off the books next summer?
PG-Curry
SG-Moody/Waters III (interchangeable)
SF-BUCKETS
PF-Green
C-VUCEVIC
—————————
Hield, JAQUEZ, HIGHSMITH, Looney, Waters/Moody, Santos, Spencer/Beekman, Post, other 2-ways
Forgot Anderson – add him to bench.
if you think the heat are giving you 2 starers (one’s a HOFer) and their 6th man for ANDREW WIGGINS… you’re beyond high.. wtf is wrong with warriors fans? You’re as arrogant as lakers fans today
HIGHLY uncalled for, jeremyn! Look at the trade proposal again – the Heat would be getting a lot of young assets back to complement the Bam-Tyler movement. Wiggins could go back to his comfortable 13-15 ppg range. Imagine all these new pieces around Bam and Tyler, and tell me the imminent and next 2-4 year outlook is NOT better for the Heat than the current reality.
THE…HEAT…AREN’T…SELLERS…. YOU… ARE…BEING…A…HOMER… FAN…… Jacquez was a home run draft pick.. they aren’t trading him. They sure as hell aren’t treating him as a throw in what you apparently think is a salary dump rebuild on a team with the highest scoring 100POS the last 2 weeks lol…. the arrogance of thinking the heat value a player 30% the worth of Jimmy Butler, 250% the value of Jimmy Butler (what your idea insinuates)… IS NUTS. You’re nuts on this.. you’re basically dreaming that a team that has operated as the class of the NBA since 1995.. suddenly became the Nets or Clippers over night lol
For context… the Heat dominated both the Suns and Cavs their last 2 games.. literally dominated them… That’s not a team throwing a white flag lol
Cutler brings some solid D to the floor. Between him and Draymond, the sheer insanity of talk and annoying D would be interesting.
Butler*. Damn autocorrect.
ANTICIPATED POINTS-PER-GAME CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THIS PROPOSED WARRIOR ROSTER REVAMP………..
BUTLER: 21 ppg
VUCEVIC: 19
CURRY: 18
——————-
JAQUEZ: 14
HIELD: 13
MOODY: 10
——————-
HIGHSMITH: 9
GREEN: 7
WATERS: 7
——————-
LOONEY: 6
ANDERSON: 6
SPENCER: 4
———————
SANTOS, others: 1-2
You think Butler is going to outscore Curry by 3ppg? I’m afraid to ask, but here we go – why?
Curry’s older, he has to work harder for his shots, and having Butler AND Vucevic in tow would mean Curry could play fewer minutes and wouldn’t have to touch the ball every possession. So minutes down, touches down a tad, and points down – through the end of the regular season, at least. Would be interesting to know if anyone here – writers included – has kept stats on something like this: through 23 games, what percentage of Warriors possessions – that get to the front court – has Curry touched the ball at least once? You could look at the percentage based on TOTAL TEAM POSSESSIONS THAT GET TO THE FRONT COURT and, more specificaly, TOTAL TEAM POSSESSIONS THAT GET TO THE FRONT COURT AND IN WHICH CURRY IS ACTIVE IN THE GAME.
He’s already playing less minutes and taking less shots though.
His 16.6 FGA’s per game this year is his lowest in a full season since 2017/18, and his 30.5mpg per game is his lowest since 2011/12. And despite those lows, he’s averaging 23ppg – 4 more than Jimmy. It’s not efficient for the Warriors to play him less, and have him shoot even less.
Curry is 36, but it’s not like Jimmy is a spring chicken himself at 35. Jimmy already has a more extensive injury history and averages less games per season – he’s not the guy who should be taking on an even bigger load.
How much of a bigger load are we really talking about here; he’s averaging 19 or 20 right now, without a true point guard?? Jimmy would obviously get more open looks with the sharpshooting threats of Steph and Nikola – imagine if Buddy is in there too – and the passing savvy of Draymond. And Kerr isn’t exactly bombarding any of his regulars in the minutes category – why would that need to change with two additional prolific scorers?
this “anticipated ppg” chart is also laughable… Curry down to 18ppg and lets Jimmy Butler be the lead dog? Dude.. have you ever seen Jimmy Butler play in your life? HE’S DEFENSE FIRST AND PLAYS OFF THE BALL MOST OF THE GAME lol. Ugh you irritated me on this.
Regardless whether I irritated you GOOOOOD or not, it would be appalling negligence on the part of Heat management to ignore what’s being offered for Jimmy. Say he leaves in July, and Miami strikes out again (Dame) with all the top tier free agents. The clock is ticking for the Heat. No one outside of Miami thinks this current configuration has what it takes to make another Finals appearance, unless they streak in the right direction a good 10+ games at some point soon.
apparently you don’t know Tyler Herro won player of the week and the heat are 5-2 Since putting Duncan Robinson back in the starting line up (5-1 if you don’t count a game Butler missed) … they are just hitting their stride ….right now lol
IT’S ALL CAPS, MUST BE RIGHT
“The Chosen Dud • 8 hours ago
ANTICIPATED POINTS-PER-GAME CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THIS PROPOSED WARRIOR ROSTER REVAMP………..
BUTLER: 21 ppg
VUCEVIC: 19
CURRY: 18”
Curry has not averaged less than 20 ppg in over a decade and currently has 23/game. You are smoking crack if you think he would play 3rd fiddle to 34 year old Nikola Vucevic.
It’s been 3 years. I always want to trade Kuminga
Heat get Kuminga, Looney, Melton, Anderson
Warriors get Butler and 3 Vets min
Add Payton
another delusional GSW fan.. why do you think.. on any timeline… that Pat Riley would do a salary dump trade with a HOF player? Where do you get this? WHERE?! lol
A lot of these teams want to save that valuable cap space that can afford Butler (see Brooklyn).
I think the most logical trade would be something to Denver involving MPJ and Zeke Nnaji plus a 2nd round pick? $43M going out for Denver and $48M coming in.
Denver needs another guy who can still keep their title window alive.
MPJ isn’t worth that much. Zero defense despite his size, and he hasn’t been the kind of offensive spark or available player the Heat would want, with a lot of money left on his (overpaid) deal. Plus with as close as Denver is to the second apron (which is a hard cap for them), they probably need to add at least another minimum salary. That technically fits, but it’s probably too close for comfort. They’d need to add their 2031 first at minimum, and that’s not appealing imo.
Denver also needs more 3pt volume, not less. They’re currently one of the lowest-volume teams in the league, and it’s hurting them. MPJ is better for them than most teams.
Finally, there’s the Jokic effect. How much of MPJ’s value comes from him, and how much comes from Jokic elevating the team as a whole? He’s better than anyone the Cavs paired with young LeBron, but the calculus is similar. Can’t trust that they’ll stack up elsewhere.
I agree with you on everything you said. I just don’t think a team like Denver shouldn’t take a look at acquiring a guy like Butler. He would help the defense as well which Malone has been upset about all year.
Heat waive Richardson, Burks, Bryant and maybe Love.
Kings offer Murray, Huerter, Lyles, Carter, Jones, Len cash and picks 1st and 2nds for Jimmy Butler
Heat waive Len
Kings sign Love and Burks (sorry Richardson)
Kings hire a shooting specialist
I was trying to tell them to draft Jackson-Davis but Instead they traded their pick
Brother… what the hell are you smoking?
Lol that was quite the trade proposal wasn’t it
seriously.. is there something in the water up in Nor Cal this week? One post after the other with such nonsense.. I don’t get it. You’re supposed to be the non crazy fans
There’s maybe 3 Kings fans on this site and Luke is not one of them. Hell the other 2 barely count.
It would have to be a multi-teamer (MDJ’s fave move) but I think they shouldn’t stop at Jimmy and should try and get Jimmy, Bam and Herro.
Bam-Dray-Jimmy-Herro-Curry is unbeatable.
I think if GSW is going to make a move they should go after multiple guys from the same team so the chemistry stays in tact.
Rockets can do better
Mavericks should have gotten Butler over Thompson last summer.
what were the Mavericks trading? Kyrie?
Bam wasting his prime years…
He’s made the Finals twice on a team who shouldn’t have made it by most people’s standard and just turned 27 on a well ran organization with a young core and loads of potential with insurers wanted to play here and a front office who knows what he’s doing (Marlins can learn a thing or 2). You can only have 1 champion a year so most payers are “wasting” prime years.
Out of the 3 suggested teams and their rosters, I’d only consider Kyrie for Butler. Otherwise, I really hope Jimmy stays and resigns next summer.
Jimmy should come with 2 1st rounders for that trade to happen.
Heat will be buyers not sellers.
Jimmy probably retires a Heat.
Old + injury-prone ≠ max contract
Any GM that signs butler to a max deal will regret it by the end of the first season.
Your team will be doing that for Lillard soon.. probably watching Jrue Holliday in the playoffs from home again too
What does this have to do with Jimmy Butler?
pointing out it happens all over the NBA.. the Heat are one of the few teams that avoid it (ask Dwyane Wade lol)
my 2 cents …. 1) Heat haven’t been “sellers” in 30 years.. so anyone with the pie in the sky dream of stealing the heat’s core for draft picks and scraps are high on their own supply here lol.. especially considering Pat’s in his 70’s now. 2) I am in Miami.. I heard from multiple insiders today.. this isn’t “news” … this is just being reported finally.. in fact Butler was at his coffee shop in Miami today mocking this report lol…. the Heat are doing due diligence because he’s already said he’s opting out and wants a max deal. Unless the heat get back prime talent ready to compete right now… as well as future stock.. Jimmy is wearing #22 on the Heat the rest of the season…. talking Jalen Green +++ from Houston, Major pieces from Dallas, or Wiggins and a dump truck from GSW… if these things aren’t happening.. Jimmy is staying in Miami.. learn history.. learn who Pat Riley is… I actually wouldn’t be shocked if Butler ended up on the Lakers for Lebron James and draft picks TBH lol
Well you know what they say about opinions lol
I’m speaking from watching the last 30 years of Pat Riley’s Heat…. They’ve literally never salary dumped… even when they had soft rebuilds. Look at what they did just 12 months ago when they got Terry Rozier for ancient Kyle Lowry
These maniacal 14-15 player trades some people come up with leave me gasping for oxygen… but I love this site when everyone argues for and against straight-up Magical Thinking, fun to read, thank you