The Miami Heat are living a life of irrelevancy after trading Jimmy Butler and they have no one else to blame but themselves.
There are times in life when the grass isn't always greener on the other side. The Miami Heat are very much living that reality out since trading Jimmy Butler at the NBA Trade Deadline. Jimmy didn't feel appreciated or valued in Miami and that ultimately led the way toward a trade demand from the team. Even though Miami tried to maintain leverage, there came a point where they just had to cut ties.
Whether the Heat got "good" value in exchange for Jimmy or not is pretty irrelevant at this point. The bottom line is that for the Heat, trading Jimmy away (and everything that led up to it) has proven to be extremely costly for the franchise. Since moving on from Jimmy, the Heat is just 1-6. They look lifeless and have the appearance of a team that doesn't have a clear identity or direction.
That's the impact that the loss of a star player generally has on a team in the NBA, especially if they don't have a strong plan in place for the fallout. That's what the Heat has run into so far without Jimmy. Without a star player, the Heat has slowly faded into an afterthought in the East.
The Miami Heat are toeing the line of irrelevancy in the Eastern Conference
Since the trade, Miami has struggled as a team. They've handed the keys of the franchise to Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo and while these two players are good, they're not cut out to be lead stars on a team - at least not on a team that is expected to be relevant in the postseason. At this point, there's not even a guarantee the Heat is going to make the playoffs.
It'd be easy to blame Herro and Bam as the "lead" guys on the roster. However, I'd shift the blame to the front office, specifically team president Pat Riley. He's largely the reason why Jimmy was forced out of town and why the Heat now currently find themselves in a state of purgatory.
Miami isn't good enough where they matter much in the East and isn't bad enough where they're going to get a good enough draft pick (without some draft lottery luck). It's pretty much the worst place to be in the Association. But that's life without a star in the NBA. And the Heat chose this.
Miami believed that once the headache of Jimmy would exit the organization, it would help the locker room and perhaps assist in this team hitting their stride as a group. That has not happened by any means. Maybe there is better camaraderie in the locker room but on the court, the product has certainly suffered without Jimmy this season.
The Heat is only the latest example of how much stars matter in this league. When they're gone, they're gone. Miami must figure out how to climb out of this state of irreverence, and it won't be easy.