Jimmy Butler wants a max contract extension. Can the Miami Heat manage to pay him that and still land a big fish this offseason?
There aren't likely many that would disagree with the statement that the Miami Heat has a pretty big future-defining offseason in front of them. After emerging as one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA this season, the Heat must figure out how to recover after taking a pretty big step back in the playoffs. Ideally, the Heat would be able to land an All-Star missing peace to their already talented core and emerge next season as a true contender in the Eastern Conference.
However, as we saw last season, we know just how difficult - and unrealistic - that may be right now for the Heat. Without many assets available to them, there's an argument to be made that the team's ultimate success or failure this summer could fall in the hands of Jimmy Butler. This time around, not for anything he can or can't do on the court. It's for how he's going to act off it.
With just one year remaining on his contract after the 2024-25 NBA season, Jimmy is likely going to pursue a max contract extension. The question is, would Jimmy accept a shorter deal rather than a lengthy one? At this point, that may be Miami's best-case scenario. Ideally, the Heat could get Jimmy to wait until next offseason to negotiate a deal. Especially if the Heat has hopes of making a big move for another All-Star player. However, knowing Jimmy, he likely is going to want the extension this summer. Especially considering how much injuries have taken a toll on his body.
The Miami Heat have a future-defining offseason in front of them
Miami needs to decide this summer if they're going to continue to try to build around Jimmy or if it's time to pivot toward retooling around Bam Adebayo. Quite frankly, the answer may be simple. It's whether or not the Heat are ready to make that level of move.
Objectively, the Heat should be pivoting toward retooling around Bam. For as good as Jimmy has been to the Heat, they simply can't rely on him. He's not durable and as he continues to age, that's only going to become a bigger and bigger problem.
But here's the difficult part of all this. If the Heat does end up retooling around Bam, it could mean not giving Jimmy a huge contract extension. In fact, there's an argument to be made that it's in the best interest of the team to not give Jimmy a huge extension and to instead think about life for the team after Jimmy.
This is what the Heat has to think about this offseason. The question is, how will they ultimately proceed forward?