NBA Rumors: As conflicting reports continue to rise, there's one polarizing insider who believes that a Jimmy Butler trade is happening soon.
Over the past week, there hasn't been a bigger story in the NBA than Jimmy Butler. Since it was originally reported that the Miami Heat were open to listening to trade offers for the All-Star wing, this story has taken a life of its own. From potential suitors to a likely asking price, this is a story that has progressed quite a bit over the last few days. The big question at the moment revolves around how this may possibly all end.
While it's certainly impossible to predict whether Jimmy will be traded or not, there's one polarizing NBA insider who believes that a trade of the superstar could be on the horizon. On a recent episode of his podcast, The Ringer's Bill Simmons mentioned that he believes or is hearing that a Jimmy trade is happening "soon."
This is a bold take that not anyone in the media has taken recently but it will certainly be interesting to see how this all plays out. Could he be right? Absolutely. However, it is interesting that the local media is almost reporting the opposite - that the team isn't strongly shopping Jimmy at the moment. Things in the NBA can change at any given moment but there's a clear distinction between what's being reported locally vs. nationally.
The Miami Heat are in a difficult spot
To be perfectly honest, the Heat find themselves in a truly difficult spot. You can make the argument for the team trading Jimmy and keeping him around. When it comes to what's best for the franchise, there could be two very different answers. Keeping him around would be good in terms of public relations and the image of the team - especially considering how the team handled Dwyane Wade's departure from the team in 2016.
At the same time, if the Heat were to keep Jimmy around, it would put the team in an almost impossible position to compete in the Eastern Conference. Whether they could quickly retool with the cap space they would get by trading Jimmy remains to be seen, but they would at least have more financial flexibility that they don't currently have at their disposal.
The Heat has notoriously been a team that keeps their cards close to their vest. For one reason or another, this Jimmy situation has completely stolen the headlines across the league of late and is a story that everyone has an opinion on. How this will all end is anyone's guess but at this point, there's a very realistic chance that Jimmy ends up being moved at some point before the trade deadline.