Jimmy Butler

Southeast Notes: Graham, Love, Mathews, Richardson

January 1st, 2020 at 4:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Breakout Hornets point guard Devonte’ Graham is shooting just 27 percent from the field over the last nine games and that’s a sign that opponents are respecting him, former teammate Kemba Walker told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.

“You learn, you grow and you adapt,” Walker said. “He’s showing the whole NBA how good a player he is, so that kind of attention is going to come. You just have to accept it as kind of a respect thing.” Earning a $1.4MM salary this season, Graham is one of the league’s biggest bargains. He is averaging 18.9 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 3.9 RPG for the 13-23 Hornets.

Graham’s recent shooting woes have decreased his field goal percentage this season to just 37.6% overall. That said, he still boasts two solid shooting percentages. Graham is connecting on 39.1% of his triples and 80.3% of his free throws with the Hornets.

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Trading for Cavaliers big man Kevin Love wouldn’t make sense for the Hornets, Bonnell writes in a mailbag post. While the team needs star power, Love is owed more than $90MM beyond this season and will be 34 when that contract expires in 2023, Bonnell continues. Even if the Hornets sneak into the playoffs, they wouldn’t be set up to advance with Love, limited on defense, as the No. 1 option, Bonnell adds.
Garrison Mathews said he was capable of torching an opponent with his shooting ability prior to his 28-point outburst against Miami on Monday, according to Mike DePrisco of NBC Sports Washington. The Wizards signed the undrafted rookie to a two-way contract in early July. Mathews, who made four 3-pointers and 12 free throws against the Heat, spoke of his offensive prowess during a pregame TV interview. “I’m not just a basketball player, I’m a professional shooter,” he said. A 6’5″ shooting guard out of Lipscomb, Mathews averaged 20.8 PPG and 5.5 RPG in his final season at Lipscomb, knocking down 3.2 threes per game at a 40.3% rate.
Josh Richardson could have been a perfect complementary piece to Jimmy Butler if the two were together with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel opines. Miami needed to include Richardson in their sign-and-trade deal for Butler to make the salary requirements work. Richardson wound up in a better situation with Philadelphia, who have legitimate title aspirations than if he had been dealt to Minnesota last season when the Heat tried to put together a package for Butler, Winderman adds.

Additional contributions by Alex Kirschenbaum.

Heat Notes: Butler, Waiters, Roster, Dragic

December 29th, 2019 at 2:10pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

After a hard-fought 117-116 overtime win over his old Sixers team Saturday, the Heat’s new All-Star wing Jimmy Butler reflected on the mentality of this year’s much improved Miami squad, Ira Winderman of the Florida Sun-Sentinel reports.

“We can’t be happy with where we are,” Butler said. “Nobody in this locker room is, nobody in this organization is. We’ve got a couple of more levels to get this thing up before it gets real.”

The Heat sit at 24-8, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They have won their last five games in a row.

In a separate piece for the Sun-Sentinel, Winderman notes that coach Erik Spoelstra is not concerned with Butler’s shooting percentages through 28 games this season. Butler is shooting 42.6% from the field and 27.6% from three-point range.

“It’s early in the season. It will level out,” Spoelstra noted. “I don’t even look at the field-goal percentage number. If you factor in free-throw attempts and free throws, he is one of the most efficient offensive basketball players in the league.”

Butler is connecting on 83% of his 9.4 free throw attempts per game.

There’s more out of South Beach:

Embattled Heat off-guard Dion Waiters has returned to practice, according to Khobi Price of the Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has yet to see on-court action this season, having been suspended three times thus far. Waiters has played just 120 of a possible 278 games during his stormy tenure in Miami, due to injuries and suspensions. The No. 4 pick in 2012 is currently in the third year of a fully-guaranteed four-year, $52MM contract he signed in the summer of 2017.
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel spoke with an anonymous Eastern Conference NBA advance scout about how the Heat stack up against the top-seeded team in the East, the Bucks. “You have the best player in the league in Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. He’s really hard to stop. You really have to be solid in the middle,” the scout told Winderman. “I think Miami has the ability with [Bam] Adebayo and [Meyers] Leonard and some big guys. You can’t let him get into the middle.”
The Miami Herald’s Anthony Chiang takes a look at the friendship and on-court chemistry blossoming between Butler and the Heat’s most recent All-Star, Goran Dragic, now their sixth man. Chiang observes that, across the 284 on-court minutes Butler and Dragic have shared this season, Miami has outscored opposing teams by 66 points. “[Dragic] is moving up on my all-time favorite teammates list,” Butler said.

Heat Notes: Culture, Wade, Butler, Jones

December 21st, 2019 at 12:29pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Michael Lee of The Athletic takes a look at the infamous Heat culture that has Miami off to a red-hot 21-8 start this season, surprising many. The Heat are the No. 3 seed in the East. Their mix of savvy veterans like Jimmy Butler and Goran Dragic and fast-developing youth has been stellar. The roster is decorated with diverse players sporting the ability to switch across multiple positions and handle the rock.

17-year Heat lifer Udonis Haslem credits Miami’s front office, captained by team president Pat Riley, with putting together their impressive depth. “They do a great job of digging down and getting these diamonds in the rough,” Haslem raved. “You know it’s not always draft picks. It’s not always free agency. Sometimes, it’s getting your hands dirty, getting in the mud and going to the G League, picking up a guy that’s been waived from another team, doing your homework, getting an undrafted [player].”

Here’s more out of Miami:

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald unpacks an extensive recent Dwyane Wade conversation with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on their new Showtime video podcast All The Smoke. Wade touched on the Heat’s recent drama with oft-suspended wing Dion Waiters. “It’s unfortunate what’s going on with him,” Wade told Barnes and Jackson. “The kid loves to hoop. What we’re seeing right now is now that the game was taken away from him, he doesn’t know how to deal with it.” Wade also discussed a desire to return to the Heat one day in an organizational capacity. “I would love to migrate back to the organization as I figure out what my life is going to be about and continue to give back to that city as they gave to me for so many years,” he said during the podcast.
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel observes that 30 year-old Jimmy Butler‘s “odometer” as an All-NBA talent puts the current Heat in conflict with their supposed 2021 free agency plan. The team only has $60MM committed to their books during a summer when talents like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Bradley Beal, Victor Oladipo, Jrue Holiday, and, yes, LeBron James could all become available.
The return of Goran Dragic to the Heat’s bench unit could serve as a boon for developing small forward Derrick Jones, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald details. “Goran gets downhill, makes my guy guard him and he just puts the ball in the air and lets me do the rest,” Jones observed. The athletic fourth-year swingman has been one of the team’s best wing defenders in limited minutes, and has now developed an outside shooting game, averaging 34.6% from deep this season. When guard Justise Winslow returns to the lineup from his back injury, Jackson opines that coach Erik Spoelstra should expand his rotation to 10 players to accommodate the improving Jones.

Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Nunn

December 7th, 2019 at 4:03pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

In an excellent piece, SB Nation’s Ricky O’Donnell takes a look at Heat superstar Jimmy Butler‘s sterling start for his new squad. O’Donnell contends that Butler has been everything the Heat wanted him to be when they inked him to a four-year, $141MM maximum contract in a sign-and-trade with the Sixers this summer.

Butler has been the rising tide to lift all ships on the Heat’s lengthy, defensive-oriented roster. As of this writing, Miami has leapt from No. 26 last year to No. 11 in offensive rating. The Heat are rated No. 8 on defense. Their 16-6 record is good for the third seed in the East, and they remain perfect (9-0) at home.

The 6’8″ wing has been stuffing stat sheets in every traditional and advanced category. Butler is averaging 20.5 PPG, plus career highs in rebounds (6.3 RPG) and assists (6.8 APG). In a 112-103 win over the Wizards last night, Butler recorded his second triple-double over the past three games. He scored 28 points (on 9-of-16 shooting from the field), pulled down 11 boards, and dished 11 dimes.

Following his Friday output, Butler currently ranks No. 5 in Player Impact Plus-Minus and No. 5 in FiveThirtyEight’s RAPTOR (“Robust Algorithm (using) Player Tracking (and) On/Off Ratings”) metric. He also sits at No. 6 in box score plus-minus, No. 5 in win shares per 48 minutes, and No. 7 in Value Over Replacement Player. Butler’s impact on the team can be felt on both ends of the court.

There’s more news out of South Beach:

David Furones of the South Florida Sentinel reports that Butler might be giving at least one player an additional financial incentive to expand the breadth of his offense. After scoring a career-high 24 points in a win against the Wizards (in addition to blocking two shots and pulling down 14 rebounds), Bam Adebayo apparently owes Butler $500. Why? Because he didn’t shoot a triple during the game. Apparently, Adebayo owes Butler money for every contest in which he does not attempt a three, a fact that Adebayo only discovered “literally before the game,” according to the Heat center. Though this new arrangement appears to be all in good fun, Adebayo might want to keep his checkbook handy: he has only attempted six threes in 22 games this season.
After going undrafted in 2018 out of Oakland University, Kendrick Nunn has earned some early Rookie of the Year buzz this season. The Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson details how the Heat’s vice president of basketball operations Adam Simon and general manager Andy Elisburg landed Nunn. As a backup guard for the Warriors’ G League affiliate last season, Nunn averaged 19.3 points. Miami inked Nunn on the final day of the 2o18/19 regular season, which equipped Nunn with full Bird rights for the moment his $3.1MM two-year-plus-one-day contract expires in 2021.
Nunn, his fellow Heat rookie Tyler Herro (the No. 13 pick in the 2019 draft), and the team’s other new veteran additions haven’t just been impressing fans and NBA writers with their play this season. They’ve been impressing their longer-tenured teammates, too. The Athletic’s Andre Fernandez and Manny Navarro spoke with 17-year Heat vet Udonis Haslem about his new teammates’ obsessive ambition. “We have a lot of guys that have a chip on their shoulder, something to prove, so naturally it’s in a lot of these guys’ DNA,” Haslem said.

Southeast Notes: Wizards, MCW, Butler

December 2nd, 2019 at 3:04pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Criticism can be hard to give and harder to accept but it’s something that teams in the NBA need to be comfortable with in order to improve. Wizards players are still figuring out one another and being constructive with criticism is something that the team has discussed within the locker room, as David Aldridge of The Athletic relay.

“You do it strategically,” said Ish Smith, who was part of the rebuild in Philadelphia. “Everybody ain’t rah-rah. You’ve got to be able to talk to them. And you’ve got to read people’s body language. How people walk, how do people talk, how they’re feeling, if they’re down if they’re up. Those are the things you’ve got to be able to do. You’ve got to communicate, not just by yelling and screaming. You’ve got to be able to pull guys to the side. And that all grows with relationships and just building throughout the season.”

Here’s more from the Southeast Division:

The Magic have listed Michael Carter-Williams as doubtful for Tuesday’s contest vs. the Wizards, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets. The designation is technically an upgrade on out, which is what MCW has been for the last six contests, so the point guard may be nearing a return.
Jimmy Butler is proving to be the ultimate teammate, Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel writes. Butler is simply trying to win games and he’s not making it about personal glory or any statistics during his first year with the Heat.
In the same piece, Winderman explains why Justise Winslow has been playing in crunch time for the Heat over Tyler Herro and Kendrick Nunn. Winslow remaining on the floor has to do with his defense and coach Erik Spoelstra valued that late in games recently.

Heat Notes: Winslow, DeRozan, Leonard

November 28th, 2019 at 11:27am CST by ChrisCrouse

Justise Winslow made his return to the lineup on Wednesday, playing 34 minutes in his first game back from a concussion. After the game, coach Erik Spoelstra said that the plan moving forward is not to have the Duke product play that much.

“I had no intention of playing him that much. K-Nunn got hit in the chest. He couldn’t play. Duncan got five fouls. So thank goodness we had Justise for those minutes,” Spo said (via Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald.

The team was also without Jimmy Butler, who missed the contest because he was not feeling well. Butler is expected to be back in action on Friday, so that will also cut into Winslow’s playing time.

Here’s more from Miami.

Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel wonders if either DeMar DeRozan or LaMarcus Aldridge makes sense for the Heat. If the cost is Winslow and one of the team’s player-friendly contracts (Dion Waiters, James Johnson), Winderman could envision a deal.
Meyers Leonard is providing the Heat just what they need on offense, Winderman notes in the same piece. Leonard, who was sent to Miami in the Hassan Whiteside deal, is valued by the team as a 3-point threat and a complement to the team’s top scorers.
Chris Silva is on the rise but foul trouble is holding him back, Winderman writes in a separate article. Silva is on a two-way deal with the Heat (you can check out every team’s two-way contracts in this year’s edition of our tracker).

Southeast Notes: Fultz, Wizards, Butler, Waiters

November 25th, 2019 at 4:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Markelle Fultz has been aggressive and productive for the Magic in recent games, Roy Parry of the Orlando Sentinel writes. Fultz, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension next offseason, has scored in double figures the last four games while recording at least 14 drives in three of his past four games, Parry notes. The increased offensive production from the top pick in the 2017 draft comes at a time when top frontcourt players Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon are nursing ankle sprains. “With a couple of our main guys out, I wanted to get guys going and I knew I had to be aggressive to help us make up those points that we were missing,” Fultz said. “It’s just about me getting into the paint and letting my guys know if they are cutting I’ll find them and also scoring when I have to.”

We have more from the Southeast Division:

Beyond Bradley Beal, there are no players who are guaranteed crunch time minutes with the Wizards, Kevin Brown of NBC Sports Washington notes. During a close win against Charlotte last week, coach Scott Brooks used three reserves down the stretch. “I think we’re a team that doesn’t worry about rotations,” forward Davis Bertans said. “Whoever has their game going, those guys are going to be in the game and…that’s beneficial for the team and I think that’s everyone agrees with that.”
Jimmy Butler was greeted with mostly boos and jeers when the Heat played Philadelphia last week and he was fine with that, Michael Lee of The Athletic relays. Butler chose Miami at the start of free agency and the teams eventually agreed to a multi-team sign-and-trade. “I’m the enemy. I mean, you don’t got to like me ‘cause I’m on the other team. I’m OK with that. I really am,” he said. “They don’t know what’s going on. I love fans. I love my fans. But you don’t know what happened.”
Dion Waiters‘ appeal of his 10-game suspension could drag on for quite awhile, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Waiters was suspended by the Heat for conduct detrimental to the team. Often a compromise is worked out behind the scenes in such cases and the arbitrator’s ruling might happen during the offseason, when all parties are available to participate in the process, Winderman adds.

Jimmy Butler Talks Sixers, Heat, Big Twos, Embiid

November 21st, 2019 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater that eliminated the Sixers from the playoffs in the spring and helped propel the Raptors to their first NBA championship was a sliding-doors moment for the league — and for star forward Jimmy Butler. Speaking to Michael Lee of The Athletic, Butler mused about what might have happened if Philadelphia had pulled out a win in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals in May.

“What happens if we win that game?” Butler said. “Do we win a championship? Am I in Philly? All of these ifs. Who knows?

“But you think about it. It’ll haunt you for the rest of your days — especially if you don’t get an opportunity — that you were that close. And then you’re like, man, one play, one possession, one anything and it easily could’ve been us winning that championship. If I ask you, who would you pick if we win that? You’d probably say Philly. Golden State is not healthy? I would say Philly. I don’t know many people who would say Golden State, if they’re not healthy.”

While it’s an agonizing what-if to consider for 76ers fans, that second-round loss ultimately opened up a path for the team to make some major changes in the offseason. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, the parent of one member of the Sixers told higher-ups that team chemistry felt off in the wake of the end of the 2018/19 season, and improving that chemistry has been a priority this fall, with Tobias Harris and Al Horford frequently organizing dinners that many players attend.

Lowe doesn’t suggest that Butler was responsible for last season’s chemistry issues, but he does confirm that the Sixers didn’t make the 30-year-old a five-year, maximum-salary offer during free agency, as previously reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and Shams Charania. For his part, Butler has found a new home with the Heat, telling Lee that Miami “just fits” him.

“Basketball is great here, but the people here, what they expect of you on a daily basis. The level that they hold you accountable at here, is something that I respect,” Butler said. “It’s something that I really love — not just like, really love — because it’s about having good people and doing things the right way. Because when this basketball thing is over with, you’re still going to have to have those morals. And if you don’t have that, you’re in for a rude awakening.”

Here are a few more noteworthy quotes from Butler, via Lee, on his offseason decision, his new team, and one of his former teammates:

On not teaming up with a star to form a “Big Two” this past summer, as other players did in Los Angeles and Houston:

“It just wasn’t the way that it worked out. I’m not one to go with the trend anyways. I don’t do what everybody else is doing. I’m not saying that it’s bad, it’s good, it’s just I worry about myself, first of all. I worry about the people that I’m around. And then you move down the line. I mean, I don’t care who I team up with. Organizational-wise, this was the place for me.

“Now, if you get some other people that think like I think, that go about things the way that I go about it, this is the place for them as well. I don’t know. I didn’t talk about it. … I leave people alone and do what I’m going to do and that’s what I did.”

On the Heat’s upside:

“The ceiling is a championship. And I don’t care what nobody has to say. If the stars align, we can get it done. If we figure this thing out, we stay together, we get our defense on track, we get our offense on track, and we become top five in both categories, we right there. We right there. We’ve got an opportunity to do something special and we’re working at it every single day.”

On former teammate Joel Embiid:

“That m———er is special. For real. Any time I text him, which we text plenty, FaceTime, phone calls. I always tell him, ‘Continue to show why you’re the best player in this league.’ Because I saw it. I saw it. He can do everything. Like, legit, he can do everything. He works and I respect it. … That’s how you become the best player, you’ve got to be obsessed with it. And he is. He is.”

Jimmy Butler: “Nobody Really Knows What Went On In Philly”

November 4th, 2019 at 5:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jimmy Butler‘s departure from the Sixers wasn’t simply a desire to play in Miami. He had some issues in Philadelphia which convinced him not to sign long-term with the organization, as he told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Butler made it known in the days leading up to free agency that he would leave Philadelphia, Haynes continues.

“Nobody knows what really went on in Philly and we’re going to leave it that way,” Butler said. “But it was a great opportunity for me.”

Butler chose the Heat on the first day of free agency and secured a four-year, $141MM contract when the Sixers agreed to a sign-and-trade that involved multiple teams.

Butler said his problems with the Sixers organization had nothing to doing with center Joel Embiid. Butler refused to elaborate what exactly led to his decision.

“All of that will come out whenever it’s time,” he said. “Right now is not the time. I’m locked in with this. I’m happy, man. … I’m not saying Philly wasn’t great, man. We had some really good players. I talk to Joel (daily). It’s a brotherhood, man. I love that guy. I’m going to always have his back and I know he’ll always have mine.”

Butler noted that he wanted to be traded to Miami when he had a falling out with the Timberwolves. He also expressed disdain for critics who believe that he’s not an franchise player.

“(They) act like I’m not a good basketball player,” Butler said. “Like for real. Just think about that. Like I can’t come in and make a huge difference. I’m not going to say ‘carry a team’ because nobody can do it by themselves and I mean that. I’m not putting it all on myself, but I know what I’m capable of.”

In his first three games with the Heat, Butler has averaged 14.7 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 7.3 APG and 4.3 SPG. His debut was delayed due to the birth of his daughter.

Heat Notes: Herro, Waiters, Winslow, Butler, Arena

November 3rd, 2019 at 5:27pm CST by JD Shaw

Heat rookie Tyler Herro has impressed during his first five games with the franchise, scorching teams on the offensive end and displaying a level of maturity not typically seen in 19-year-old players.

Herro, the No. 13 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, has averaged 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 32.2 minutes per contest thus far. He holds shooting marks of 45% from the floor and 36% from three-point range, starting in three of those five games. He’s slated to once again come off the bench against Houston on Sunday night.

“This is my first time [coming off the bench], but I’m willing to do whatever coach wants me to do,” Herro said, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. “Whether it’s start or come off the bench — whatever is best for the team.

“I’ve never come off the bench, so as long as I’m playing my minutes — and however much coach thinks that should be. But as long as I’m playing my minutes that I’ve earned, then I’m good.”

Many league observers tabbed Herro as most likely to start at shooting guard for Miami this season, but the elevated play from fellow rookie Kendrick Nunn (22.4 PPG on 52% shooting) has kept Herro from receiving a solidified starting role.

The Heat have opened the 2019/20 season at 4-1, with their only loss coming on the road to Minnesota during the second half of a back-to-back.

There’s more out of Miami tonight:

Dion Waiters will be available to play for the Heat in their home game against the Rockets on Sunday, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Waiters was suspended by the team for their first game after expressing frustration over his lack of playing time in the preseason, with the 27-year-old being listed as out since then.
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel examines whether a Justise Winslow–Jimmy Butler pairing will work for the team. Both Winslow and Butler share similar play styles, working hard on the defensive end while mostly operating inside the arc offensively.
TD Bank has had serious discussions with Miami-Dade County to acquire naming rights for the Heat’s arena, Jackson writes for the Miami Herald. One source labeled TD Bank as front-runners to acquire naming rights for the arena, according to Jackson, though another source cautioned that other companies still remain in the mix. American Airlines will not be pursuing a renewal of its 20-year contract for naming rights.

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