NBA Rumors: The Miami Heat are trending in a way that suggests they're about to make another disastrous move at the NBA Trade Deadline.
In the decade since LeBron James left the Miami Heat to return to Cleveland (and then eventually leave for Los Angeles), the Miami Heat had struggled to find any level of relevancy. That's generally been the byproduct of doing and then losing the business of LeBron. Nevertheless, back in 2019, all that changed when Jimmy Butler signed with the Miami Heat.
Even though it wasn't an ideal roster construction, Jimmy in many ways helped keep the Heat relevant in the Eastern Conference. He helped lead the team to two NBA Finals appearances in the last five seasons. However, early this season, it all began to appear as if the end for Jimmy in Miami was near. Since then, there has been much pushback on the idea of the Heat trading Jimmy at the deadline. In fact, now the recent speculation is that Miami is expected to keep him beyond the trade deadline and then figure out his future during the offseason.
Of course, there's only one problem with that. At that point, Jimmy is going to be a free agent and will be able to sign wherever he so chooses. That means if the Heat doesn't want to risk losing Jimmy for nothing, it would make sense to move forward with trading him at the deadline - a path that it doesn't appear as if the team is all that willing to go down.
Failing to trade Jimmy Butler would be a huge mistake for Jimmy Butler
That would be a big mistake for the Heat. Miami has to look at the best and worst-case scenarios in each possible outcome. If the Heat were to trade Jimmy, at worst they could theoretically get a future pick and perhaps expiring contracts or a player that could help the team remain somewhat competitive in the East as they craft their next move. Sure, they'd lose a superstar but it would give the front office time and perhaps added flexibility to figure out what lies ahead for the franchise.
If they keep Jimmy past the trade deadline, that probably means the team wants to re-sign him. To be quite honest, with the money he's likely going to demand, that's an outcome that will likely equal more mediocrity from the team. Jimmy is not getting younger and doesn't have the same consistent impact on the game as he did in years past. Plus, you can't ignore the injury issues he seemingly is always running into. Then, there's the whole possibility of him walking for nothing in free agency too that the Heat would have to consider.
All in all, there's very little upside to keeping Jimmy on the roster past the deadline - especially if the rest of the supporting cast continues to leave much to be desired. From all indications, it does seem as if the Heat is about to make another big NBA Trade Deadline mistake.