After declining to comment on the Jimmy Butler situation in recent weeks, Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed the subject on Friday after the team’s four-team deal sending the star forward to Golden State had officially been processed, per Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald.
Spoelstra admitted that he doesn’t “completely understand” how the relationship deteriorated to the extend that it did, but expressed gratitude to Butler for his time in Miami.
[RELATED: Inside Jimmy Butler’s Final Weeks With Heat]
“It was a great partnership and corroboration for five years,” Spoelstra said. “Some deep core memories. I’m grateful for them and grateful for the time of being able to coach a player like Jimmy.”
As for the outcome of the trade, Spoelstra praised the front office for bolstering the roster “in a way that was really creative,” expressing enthusiasm about the players the team added. The coach lauded Andrew Wiggins for his ability to fit in and make an impact on both ends of the court; cited Davion Mitchell‘s “competitive spirit” and toughness as traits the club has long admired; and referred to Kyle Anderson as one of the league’s most unique role players whose “IQ is off the charts.”
“(General manager) Andy (Elisburg) just did a tremendous job,” Spoelstra said. “Obviously (team president) Pat (Riley) with this vision of all this stuff. And to be able to get a draft pick, we were able to do a lot of different things.
“We have clarity now. This could have looked a lot worse if you had to go through a lot of different changing situations. All things considered, it’s a good spot for this stretch run. We feel good about turning the page of the direction of our franchise. It’s exciting. [And] Jimmy will be in a great place in Golden State.”
Here are a few more items of interest related to the Heat’s trade talks leading up to Thursday’s deadline:
- The Bucks and Sixers were mentioned a couple times in recent weeks as possible suitors for Butler, but neither team had substantive discussions with the Heat, Jackson reports in another Miami Herald story. Jackson believes a trade centered around Butler and Paul George would’ve been of greater interest to Philadelphia than Miami.
- As they engaged Golden State in recent weeks about a Butler trade, the Heat never seriously considered the idea of flipping Wiggins to Toronto or another team, according to Jackson, who says Miami really likes the former No. 1 overall pick and views him as a good two-way fit.
- The Heat would have ducked out of luxury tax territory if they’d completed a rumored side deal to send Anderson to the Raptors, but Toronto’s front office changed its mind about bringing the veteran forward aboard when the team got the chance to acquire Brandon Ingram from New Orleans, says Jackson. The Heat weren’t angry at the Raptors about that pivot, Jackson adds, because they understood their talks were fluid and they hadn’t gotten a firm commitment from Toronto.
- Even though that aspect of the trade fell through, the Heat moved forward with another side deal – sending Dennis Schröder, a second-round pick, and cash to Utah for P.J. Tucker – even though it no longer moved them below the tax line, Jackson writes, because they didn’t want to renege on their agreement with the Jazz. Schröder and Tucker ultimately ended up in Detroit and Toronto, respectively, when the dust settled.
- The Heat, who remained about $2.8MM over the tax line following the Butler blockbuster, received three trade offers in the hours leading up to Thursday’s deadline that would’ve made them a non-taxpayer, per Jackson. However, they decided that all three proposals would make the team worse and opted to remain in the tax rather than accept one of them. Miami is still below the first tax apron, giving the club the ability to pursue any player who hits the buyout market, regardless of the player’s previous salary.
I will make this small prediction and it’s that coach Spoelstra will tire of mid Andrew Wiggins and the heat deal him away this summer.
There’s no way Andrew is a heat culture, winner take all, type dog. Andrew is a “wonderful human being.”
But this wonderful human being will be on the first flight out to Charlotte or Portland or Indiana on draft day in June.
So, he won a title and was a key piece of that run, but he’s not Heat culture?
I’m not a big Wiggins fan or anything, but dude does get a bit of a bad rap that I don’t think is totally deserved.
I am a little hard on him because there’s always that little more you would think you could get out of his game.
I guess it’s what happens when the talent is there and shows flashes, but then two missed free throws in a row or a dumb turnover and you shake your head.
Yes he’s fine but from the small forward wing spot, that’s where there’s a lot of studs out there and if you have Andrew Wiggins, you just want a little more from him.
Wiggins defense has always been top so i doubt he will tire of Wiggins. Yes sometimes his offense slacks off when he is not aggressive on offense. I just wish it was Green traded instead of Wiggins off the warriors.
@arc89 Wiggins defense has always been mid, never “top”. How can you watch Draymond and then think Wiggins is good, as GSW has recently given up 40 point quarters on the regular with Wiggins with no Dray?
Wiggins is a great floor spacer, but his actual D isn’t great, it’s not awful but it’s exactly…mid.
@Gary no, you are right. Wiggins is a headcase who is absurdly inconsistent who sees ZERO criticism for missing so many games without an injury. Kawhi and Simmons get destroyed for being high paid guys who miss time with injury, Wiggs didnt even have an injury. Wiggs, for what GSW needed him to be, did not help the team this year. If you are #2 behind Steph at that much money, then you need to be 20-25 PPG. Wiggs was 16-17. That’s the issue with him. If he made $10M a year he’d be a fantastic add, but he doesn’t.
2022 Warriors was strength in numbers. Wiggins was a part, but they needed every single one of those parts assisting Steph. Otto Porter carried Wiggins most of that season.
Wiggins can never be #1 or even #2 guy, but he would be a solid #3,4 guy for Miami. His contract is not an overpay. Hopefully, it will work out for him. His emergence and success with Warriors was a great story for awhile but he simply didnt have the commitment to the team needed for the long haul. Yes, we all understood that he had personal issues(his dad), but it was way too much. It’s almost like he used the situation not to play and be away from the team. I know this is a terrible take but it just seems like he doesnt want to be out there every single day. There are other examples. Warriors helped him finally become an All Star but he really didnt care if he became one again! He also signed team friendly contract – why?? I thought it was because he like being a Warrior and he wanted to help the team win, but it really was so that he could take it easy and not have so much pressure. When you look back at that offseason extension, he probably gave up at least $8-10m per yr. Finally, his vaccine fiasco could have been a major disaster.
Wiggins already proved he could be the second player on a championship team. He’d a rough couple years on a personal level since then but it seems like he turned the corner.
What vaccine fiasco? He didn’t like the idea and got it done anyway for the good of the team.
Some warrior fans are just making up excuses why they traded Wiggins. He is a solid #3 on most teams that plays great defense. He actually played better than Curry this season for the warriors.
I think you couldnt be more, wouldnt be surprised if Wiggins retires there. Steve Kerr loved Wiggins and said he was a phenomenal player to coach.
Lol.., Eric Spoelstra just said the exact same thing about Jimmy Butler. It’s what coaches say when trades happen.
@gary
I think you have hit the Wigs final impact on the Warriors pretty well. For me, it’s tough defense and we will never forget the picture post-ring celebration where he’s standing with Klay and Juan Toscano-Anderson and isn’t anywhere near this atmosphere.
Alec Burks is still here, but is somehow still in the shadow realm, in matchups where they need him…
Heat need help at the 2/3, though I would also be interested in Simmons.
This is Andrew Wiggins’ opportunity to be the best version of himself he can possibly be, or he will be exposed for who he really is. That’s what Heat culture is. He has always had the talent. He briefly showed it once, too, and now is the time for him to decide to be the player he always could have been
Kyle Anderson allows for potentially multiple interesting lineups, and even though he has multiple years left, he is tradeable, but also, he is technically depth if they unfortunately were to trade Jaime for some reason, though I hope they don’t, yet
Davion Mitchell has always been a Miami Heat player,I prefer him in certain lineups over Rozier, though Burks should be playing in front of both in a lot of matchups as well.
What is Heat Culture? Not winning? Miami misses Tranny Wade and Diddy James.
Boooo.
Add butthurt to the front of your name @Pacers Fan lmao
I wonder who you voted for with that comment
They had to take back salary. I’m glad they got a FRP. I didn’t expect that.
Warriors pick is far better than any Suns pick
Warriors have 50% chance in lottery
I think the word Spo was looking for was “collaboration”
MIA can always maintain its culture as long as the people in charge are still there and insist on it. Problem is their culture has never impacted the W/L columns unless combined with superstar talent. Butler was that superstar the past 5 years, and the guy who lifted them out of the mediocrity that had theretofore defined the post-LBJ era. The team moving forward looks a lot like the post-LBJ pre-Butler teams. Bam, Herro, Wiggins combined with some nice young talents, and solid vets, make for a nice team, but not a title contender.
I think Riley knows this, and will, from here on, double down on hunting for a superstar. The issue will be how does he get one for this team in an era when superstars no longer get to free agency.