Houston Rockets
At nearly the midway point of the season, the Houston Rockets have been one of the most impressive teams in the NBA this season. They are currently second in the Western Conference standings and have not shown many signs of slowing down as a team. They have a talented young core that continues to get better with every passing day and this fan base has every reason to be excited about its future. However, if there is one concern for the Rockets, it certainly revolves around whether they have enough star power to find success in the postseason.
For as good as the Rockets have been as a team this year, we have to remember that the NBA Playoffs are driven by star power. Any team that finds any level of success in the playoffs must have star power. The Rockets, with all due respect, don't currently have that. That's why heading into the NBA Trade Deadline, they should look to Jimmy as a potential answer on that front, and, similarly, Jimmy should look to the Rockets as a potential landing spot from his perspective. In many ways, the Rockets and Jimmy may be perfect for each other, even if it is just for a couple of seasons.
How feasible is a Jimmy Butler trade?
From an asset management perspective, there may not be a team on this list that has more to offer the Miami Heat than the Rockets. Playing around with the trade machine even for a few minutes, it's easy to find a deal that the Heat should be open to. For the Rockets, it's not a matter of whether they have the assets to get a deal done for Jimmy, it comes down to whether they'd want that and if Jimmy would even be happy in Houston. I'd argue that both sides would greatly benefit from such a move.
The Rockets would get the star player that they need to legitimize themselves in the Western Conference with Jimmy and Jimmy would get a strong contending team in the Rockets around him to give himself a shot to win a title. Houston would also have the ability to give Jimmy the two-year max extension that he's looking for. And that's exactly what he would be playing for in the second half of this year and into the playoffs with the team. The Rockets and Jimmy make a lot of sense for each other, even if neither side is willing to admit it.