Tag Archive for: Miami Heat Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Heat Show Resolve in Wild Open to Free Agency

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The voices of doubt crept into Heat territory after a few lackluster off-seasons.

Questioning of the Riley way.

Dismissal of Heat Culture as a burden not a springboard.

Those voices now must remain quiet, in order to catch their breath.

This team was deemed unsalvageable and lost by local and national media alike.

Now they have done this.

The mutual interests of Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat were an open secret.

In seasons past that smoke would not turn into fire.

Miami did their best to lure free agents such as Gordon Hayward to Heat Nation.

They just had something missing.

Fast forward to the present and Butler used his leverage to get out of Philly, despite new reports he had a 5-year max offer.

 

Butler wanted to be the number one guy, rightfully so.

The Heat needed that exact piece and made it happen.

It wasn’t smooth sailing by any means.

 

Dallas did not want to add Goran Dragic, instead vying for Derick Jones, Jr and Kelly Olynyk.

Meanwhile, J-Rich was already ditching Heat Culture for some cheese steaks (there’s a joke in here somewhere).

 

In the end it will be mostly forgotten, a slightly embarrassing footnote to an otherwise fantastic deal.

Which would eventually get done.

Within the same deal and lost in the Butler frenzy is a trade that Heat fans have been longing for since 2016.

Miami dealt Hassan Whiteside to Portland for Meyers Leonard and Mo Harkless.

They then flipped Harkless and a future first rounder to the Clippers to free up cap space for Butler.

Andy Elisburg is still the GOAT.

Dallas might regret losing Dragic, and he will be perfect for the same role next year as last.

If he isn’t traded next.

 

Regardless, the Heat have returned to relevance quickly, shedding bloat and keeping the young core mostly intact.

And they may not be done.

The Miami Heat are acquiring Jimmy Butler

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It took the length of a pregnancy term.

It took lots of lists — most of which were wrong early — about where Jimmy Butler wanted to play.

It took Butler getting traded to Philadelphia, away from Tom Thibodeau.

It took a remarkable farewell season from his buddy Dwyane Wade that impressed Butler mightily.

It took Pat Riley getting back on the beam.

We’ll find out what else it took, other than Josh Richardson, soon.

But for now, we know this:

Jimmy Butler is now the best player on the Miami Heat.

He wanted to be here. He didn’t want Houston, even though it was close to home. He didn’t really want LA. He didn’t want to be a third option in Philadelphia.

He wanted to be here.

He’s here.

And he’s here for a while, at a rich price, though not for five years at $191 million as it could have been.

The cost? We’re getting that. But it will definitely include Josh Richardson.

 

And we’re hearing the Heat aren’t close to done.

There was always a plan, and a plan after the plan. There was a belief that if Butler wanted to move to Miami, players and money could be moved.

How good will the Heat be?

Hard to say.

But they matter again.

I’ll be on WSVN-7 between 11 and 11:30 p.m. tonight.