NBA Rumors: The inevitable has happened all it appears that Jimmy Butler has demanded a trade away from the Miami Heat.
Children across the globe are waking up to presents under the Christmas tree this morning. The Miami Heat may have awoken to a trade demand from superstar Jimmy Butler. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Jimmy "prefers" a trade away from the Heat ahead of the NBA Trade Deadline. Shams notes that while Jimmy won't formally request a trade, he's ready for his exit away from the team. After weeks of this story certainly trending in this direction, this couldn't have been surprising for the Heat.
Nevertheless, this is certainly not something the franchise wants to see reported. Even though you'd imagine there is going to be at least some level of push back from the team and perhaps even Jimmy's camp, the writing may have already been on the wall for such a move. Jimmy is in the final year of his current contract with the Heat and he intends on testing free agency after this season.
But before the summer even arrives, Jimmy has thrown a huge wrench in Miami's plans if this report is accurate and that he is going to be pushing the front office for a trade before the deadline. This is probably not the Christmas morning Heat fans were expecting.
A few potential suitors for Jimmy Butler
To be perfectly honest, the Heat almost needed to trade Jimmy anyway. This is a roster that is going nowhere fast and needs a jump start. I'm not sure if there's any realistic move that helps them expand the Jimmy championship window in Miami. And if Jimmy is focused on winning a title before his career is over, it's probably in his best interest to force his hand in this way.
Once it became clear that the Heat wasn't budging on giving him the contract extension that he was seeking, that was probably the final nail in the coffin for this pairing. The Heat are not going to be in a great bargaining position if they do move forward with trading Jimmy but at this point, parting ways makes the most sense. A few potential suitors that have already been linked to Jimmy are the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors.
Honestly, the only team that makes some sense to make a bold move for Jimmy at this point in the season is the Warriors. Whether or not they're going to meet Miami's asking price remains to be seen. But the NBA Trade Deadline just got a whole lot more interesting; that's for sure.