NBA Insiders Believe Miami Heat Should Have Moved Jimmy Butler Last Season
The Miami Heat are in the middle of Jimmy Butler drama this season.
A couple of NBA insiders feel the Heat could have avoided the situation had they moved Butler last year at the trade deadline. Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports and Matt Moore of Action Network both feel the Heat should've gotten rid of Butler a year ago.
"They should've dealt him at the last deadline," Moore said. "You get ahead of this. And there was going to be so many teams that would've been like, `Hell yea, absolutely. We want a winner like that on board' versus now when it's like, `Um, I have to pay him a lot of money for the biggest locker room explosion guy in the league who the Heat couldn't handle."'
Skolnick went far as saying Butler has damaged his trade value because of the situation this season.
"If you trade him then, he would've had more value, no question abbout it," Skolnick said. "He's tanking his own values now, which is making it harder for them to trade him."
HERRO STANDS ALONE
Lost amid Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butlerâs frequent unavailability is teammate Tyler Herroâs constant availability.
And no, thatâs not us dissing Butler.
Weâve collectively spent so much time talking about Butlerâs injury and recent suspension that itâs become easy to forget Herroâs reliability. In fact, heâs now the only Heat player not to miss a game yet.
All-Star center Bam Adebayo missed his first game Monday with a back contusion. It is unknown if heâll play Wednesday against the Lakers.
The Heat have played 38 games. Only four playersâAdebayo, Herro, Duncan Robinson, and Haywood Highsmithâhave missed two or fewer games; Robinson and Highsmith have only sat out twice.
Herroâs durability is noteworthy given his injury history. He broke his hand in 2023 and missed 40 games last season.
Herro has never played more than 70 regular season games.
Heat president Pat Riley publicly called Herro out last spring. He described the dynamic guard as âfragileâ in an end-of-season press conference.
âWhat did he play, 40 games?â Riley said in May. âHe might have to go to another level nutritionally. Heâs got to make some adjustments, definitely.â
Clearly, whatever Herro has changed is workingâand itâs keeping the inconsistent Heat in the playoff picture.
Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com
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