Miami Heat: Will the return of Jimmy Butler solve the team’s big issues?

Can Jimmy Butler save the Miami Heat?

At 6-12, I don’t think anyone considers the Miami Heat championship contenders this season. At the very least, they certainly haven’t played that way this far in the season. That said, you can’t help but wonder where this team would be if they were fully healthy to start the year.

Their three (debatable) best players, Bam Adebayo, Jimmy Butler, and Goran Dragic, haven’t played together all that often. In fact, they’ve only played in less than 30 minutes together this season.

I’m not saying that’s the biggest reason for their shortcomings or slow start this year, but it has to at least play some sort of factor in the reason why this team has looked like it has.

The big question, of course, is whether or not the return of Jimmy Butler is going to solve all the issues for this Heat team. Even though Butler is the heart and soul of the Heat, it would be insane to believe that simply one player will be able to solve all the issues for a 6-12 team.

Though, I’m pretty sure the Heat would really, really like to have Butler back in the lineup.

And it seems that the Heat is going to get its wish sooner rather than later. We’re also going to get an answer on whether or not the return of Jimmy can make a significant impact for Miami. According to a report, Jimmy is on the verge of making a return to the Heat’s lineup, and could even make his return tonight against the Sacramento Kings.

There might not be a better time for it too, considering that the Heat’s schedule softens up a bit after having to run through a gauntlet without a few of its key players.

On paper, even more so if the Heat is a bit more healthy, Miami should be favored in each of the team’s next seven games. Over the next two weeks, Miami faces Sacramento, Charlotte, Washington (twice), New York (twice), and Houston.

Even though the Heat hasn’t been anything impressive this season, this is the stretch of the schedule where it needs to get back on track. If they could win five or six of these next few games, they’d find themselves right in the thick of the Eastern Conference standings.

With the NBA Trade Deadline inching closer, it’s imperative for this team to prove that they could make a real push for the playoffs.

The big question, of course, is whether the return of Jimmy will be enough. Perhaps we’ll begin to answer that question tonight, if he can finally make his return to the lineup.