Giving Jimmy Butler what he wants

Jimmy Butler’s post-game interview after suffering defeat to the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 2 was an eulogy to the era of Heat Culture brought upon by his arrival. The Miami Heat have always been a stingy team, both in their economics but also on the court. The glitz and glamor of the Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh from 2010-2014 was actually a departure from what won the team their first championship. In 2006, Wade was a playoff elevator who had the companionship of an interior force in Shaquille O’Neal, surrounded by veterans and absolute professionals like Gary Payton, Jason Williams and James Posey. In 2023, a more similar dynamic played out between Butler and Bam Adebayo, alongside a cast of misfits who would have otherwise not found minutes on another team but built their careers off their performances in Miami.

Things were thought to be different in Miami for Butler. Butler, unlike during his tenures in Chicago, Philadelphia and Minnesota, was enamored by the allure of the 305 and became a local fixture of the city, in addition to the international stardom that he attained. He had a young, potential-driven roster on the Timberwolves, but it was far too underdeveloped for the accelerated maturation that Head Coach Tom Thibodeau had inflicted upon the blooming star in Chicago and failed to enforce on players like Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. Butler then found success and a further molded crop of youthful talent on the 76ers, but the front office famously chose to stick with Tobias Harris over the man who would subsequently raise Miami out of the depths of mediocrity every other postseason. The Heat went on to make two NBA finals in the Butler years, while the 76ers still have not made the Eastern Conference Finals in the same time.

All good things come to an end though, and regardless of the vehemently cartoonish denial of his agent, Butler has officially requested a trade from the Miami Heat. And seemingly one that shall land him anywhere but Miami for the sake of his mental welfare.

With a virtually untradeable contract under new NBA legislation, it will be a difficult task to not only find matching money for Butler, but also a team willing to take him on for mutually proportional assets. Still, with what may be the first trade of its kind under the recent CBA, I thought the exercise of going through the motions was important nonetheless.

Thus, here are the 29 possible trades that I have concocted to grant Butler his unregulated wish:

This is going to become a redundant refrain, but I do not see this trade happening. De’Andre Hunter is a genuine Sixth Man of the Year candidate and is growing into the 3-and-D specialist, with a little extra scoring prowess, that Atlanta drafted him to become. And while Bogdanović has struggled with injuries and has been slow to return to form, he has proven himself as a formidable offensive contributor. The Hawks would be blowing a hole into their offensive foundation with this trade, while simultaneously committing to a defense-first armor for the liability that is Trae Young. Both players would fit right into the Heat’s roster, but I am not sure Pat Riley would like to take on two long-term contracts that he did not negotiate himself.

Dealing with the Boston Celtics would be sacrilegious for the Heat, and vice-versa, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Except this trade would never happen and was quite literally the only one that was financially feasible. If I am Boston Celtics General Manager Brad Stevens and Riley called me with this offer, I would question whether Father Time had finally started taking his toll on the Heat President.

This would be a pure cap-space deal for the Heat. It would also be an absolute win for Riley; he gets one over on Jimmy by sending him to a tanking wasteland, forcing him to reject his massive player-option to sign with a contender and he gets to run out the season and target free agents of his choice this summer. Similarly, this could be an accelerant in the Nets’ current race to the bottom if Jimmy were to do something as extreme as—but not unfathomable—refusing to play.

The Hornets may be reluctant to give up this much depth for Butler, but they desperately need a lockdown defender to complement the one-way playing styles of LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller, enabling them to continue to develop into offensive weapons of mass destruction.

I have to assume that the Bulls would be glad to end the Patrick Williams experiment that they voluntarily chose to extend this past summer. And although it is more likely the Bulls would continue to meddle in mediocrity even if Jimmy were to stay another year, it would at least be good PR for the disgruntled star to return back to where it all started. The Heat also desperately need a genuine playmaker to fill the void left by an overextended Tyler Herro, as great as he has been, and a Lonzo Ball test-run could end up in a nice, subsequent short-term deal this offseason.

Not even going to justify this one. The Cavaliers are arguably the best team in the NBA and this trade would make them lesser than that.

Similarly, the Mavericks have been treading water well enough without Luka Doncić, so why rock the boat? They did trade for Kyrie Irving though when his basketball and personal stock were at its lowest though, so who knows?

Former NBA Finals foes to friends? Perhaps, for the sake of convenience. Nikola Jokić can run the offense effectively enough that the catch-and-shoot capabilities of Michael Porter Jr. can be compensated for, and a great wing defender is something that Denver has been lacking since letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk last summer. A common theme among the more practical trades for Jimmy is that his defensive résumé will be doing the heavy lifting in terms of fitting him structurally on a roster, aside from all the financial complications of formulating a trade with him in it.

Wouldn’t this be a twist of irony?

The Heat would not physically be able to fit a roster with this many players into their team plane, but I love every player that they would be receiving for a regressing 35-year-old on a 1+1 deal.

Finally a sensible one. VanVleet and Butler share the fortune of both having become shells of their former selves, effectively lowering their trade value to be relatively on par with each other’s, especially in terms of what each team needs from this deal. VanVleet would ideally provide Miami with what Kyle Lowry should have been—although I am reluctant to trust another former Raptor—and Butler would reinforce the steel buttress of Houston’s defense under head coach Ime Udoka.

Again, too many players coming to Miami and not enough leaving to make it work, but Myles Turner could slot in complementarily to Bam Adebayo. I am personally not fond of Bam’s attempt to artificially extend his range by way of brute-forcing shots up, and the real front-court spacing that Turner’s skills imply could allow Adebayo to revert back to his true form.

That I believe Miami would have to send a first round pick to even complete this deal, which is already financially feasible, shows how absurd I think it is on behalf of the Clippers.

I initially constructed this deal as a cruel joke to both fanbases, but as Jimmy Butler’s ESPN profile headshot continues to burn into my retinas, it actually makes more sense than a good chunk of these other hypotheticals upon additional reflection. The Heat are arguably in the final days (more like a season or two, but still) of deciding whether to continue to push for the postseason, or maybe take a reflective step back. And one or two years of LeBron bringing his talents back to South Beach could be the cinematic closure that the normally ungraceful Heat deserve in concluding a prosperous era.

Like the Cavaliers, the Grizzlies are already too good to consider this.

Now this is a cruel joke. And vindication for Tyler Herro.

I think Jimmy would get along better with Anthony Edwards than he did KAT, but this would only add to Minnesota’s dysfunction. It would be fun to see Love back in a Wolves uniform though, especially to end his career.

If Jimmy Butler “allows” this trade to happen, it would be wonderful for Miami. Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones basically recreate Butler in the aggregate, the former and latter as the offensive and defensive counterparts respectively. And the Pelicans could recollect themselves after this season and decide whether they want to push forward with a core of Zion Williamson, C.J. McCollum and Butler, or blow it up.

Knicks are too good.

Thunder are too good and this was the only deal where the dollars work because of how ridiculously frugal Thunder General Manager Sam Presti has kept his roster by way of his draft prowess.

Both Isaac and Caldwell-Pope are having down years at the start of big-money contracts, but if Isaac can stay healthy and reach his potential and Caldwell-Pope can play like he did for the Nuggets, it could be a solid depth coup for Miami and an injection of postseason hope while the Wagner brothers and Paolo Banchero recover.

Not sure if Butler would step foot back in Philly, but a George and Butler swap could ensure anything from mutually-assured destruction to success for either team.

Another relic of past failed Heat dealings, Bradley Beal has been efficient in the smaller role he occupies for Phoenix and could relieve some offensive facilitation duties from Herro. But I don’t know if Phoenix is a big enough city for the outsized personalities of Butler and Kevin Durant on the same roster.

It is probable that Pat Riley has Trail Blazers General Manager Joe Cronin’s number blocked after what happened two summers ago with Damian Lillard, but maybe Spo has it. Jerami Grant has been playing way below his pay-grade, but has proven that he can get to that level before. And Avdija should not be rotting away in Portland when his toolset is tailor-made for at least a playoff roster. Butler could provide veteran leadership and defensive maturity to a Trail Blazers squad that maybe has one player who learned how to slide their feet playing high-school varsity basketball (Toumani Camara).

The Kings are on a two-game winning “streak” after a six-game slide, so vibes are good and I assume Fox wants to live happily ever after in Sacramento again. But if not, Miami would take him in a heartbeat. The Heat have not had a point-guard of Fox’s caliber since Tim Hardaway (sorry Goran Dragić, that one All-Star appearance will forever appear on Basketball Reference even if no one remembers it). More than that though, Fox would bring spontaneous bursts of energy to a Miami team that often goes through periods of offensive malaise. But if Sacramento’s offensive construction was a disaster as is, I am not sure adding a career 33% three-point shooter (Butler) next to a cosplayer of mid-2000s offense (Demar DeRozan) would improve upon it.

Vassell has finally fit back into a somewhat humming Spurs starting-five, but an opportunity to get rid of Collins’ horrid contract while adding more veteran support around Victor Wembanyama may seem attractive. This is a hard trade to justify though for San Antonio, as it would likely shorten the Spurs’ competitive runway before it has truly started because of senior-citizens like Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes (whose game is older than his true age would give off) being closer to the conclusion of their careers than their starts.

If Butler could stand the cold of Minnesota and Chicago, he can deal with Toronto. Immanuel Quickley would be a great two-way fit next to Herro and Bruce Brown’s deal is a free trial to see if he is still the gamer that he once was. On the other side of the equation, the Raptors get more lengthy and positionless youth in Jaquez and Jović alongside the veteran that they need to get Scottie Barnes to stop dancing in games that they win while still being one of the biggest cumulative losers in the league.

I don’t even know if the Jazz could comprehend becoming this bad through deliberately losing this many assets. But it sure would help them Capture the Flagg (or maybe Haul in Harper…? I don’t know).

I think Kyle Kuzma’s shot selection alone would give Heat Head Coach Erik Spoelstra an aneurism after the years of reform that he guided Herro through, but Kuzma at his best is truly an offensive boon. And Brogdon is an expiring deal, while George, a University of Miami alumni, would be returning to the city that made him a first-round-pick to continue to develop. Butler would also get to play whatever type of basketball he prefers with a new friend like Jordan Poole.