Bill Simmons hits Heat's Jimmy Butler trade options with reality check
12/13/2024 12:14 PM
The Miami Heat are contemplating their future ahead of this year’s trade deadline. After failing to reach an extension with Jimmy Butler this summer, the team is listening to trade offers for the star forward. Butler is in the final year of his contract with a player option for next season, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
While speculation grows about the Heat’s long-term plans, Bill Simmons offered his take on how they should proceed.
“If you're Miami where are you going? You're light years away from that Boston, OKC, Cleveland group. You're not even really a second tier contender, you're probably a second and a half tier contender,” Simmons said. “And maybe you could use Butler's contract, you can put Rozier with it, you could try to create a new world for yourself where you are basically just paying [Tyler] Herro and Bam [Adebayo] and Duncan Robinson's last year and some other things and you're under $110 million heading into free agency this summer with a lot of options. You might just want to blow it up this year and redo it.”
The Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns are believed to be Butler’s desired destinations, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
How NBA’s new CBA could complicate a Jimmy Butler trade for Heat
While Butler appears to have his sights set on a contender, the NBA’s new CBA could complicate a trade for the Heat. Several teams on Butler’s list face restrictions due to the first and second aprons.
“The problem is this apron stuff,” Simmons pointed out. “Some of the teams that they would be trading with, it's just not realistic with the apron. Shams reported Dallas and Phoenix and teams that I just don't think that there is any way, shape, or form that there is a trade to be had with either side because of the apron stuff and because of the lack of assets.”
The Suns are over the second apron, meaning they cannot take back more salary than they send out or aggregate salaries in trades. Any trade in which they acquire Butler must include Bradley Beal, Devin Booker or Kevin Durant. Beal is the only one of that group who Phoenix would include in a deal. However, he has a no-trade clause.
Due to the Klay Thompson sign-and-trade, the Mavericks are hard-capped at the first apron with only $387,000 in space below it. With Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving off-limits, Dallas would have to trade four or five players to match Butler’s salary. They would then need to maneuver further to fill out their roster while staying under the first apron.
Golden State and Houston are the most realistic destinations for Butler.
The Warriors face a similar situation to the Mavericks. They are hard-capped at the first apron with only $534,000 in space below it. However, they have Andrew Wiggins’ $23.6 million contract to match a large chunk of Butler’s salary. They also have expiring veterans in De’Anthony Melton ($12.8) and Gary Payton ($9.1 million).
Further, Golden State has intriguing young prospects in Jonathan Kuminga and Brandin Podziemski, as well as draft picks that it could use in a trade.
The Rockets have space under the luxury tax and aprons with numerous mid-sized contracts to match salary in a deal. They also have four tradable first-round picks and several intriguing young prospects, including Jabari Smith, Reed Sheppard, Tari Eason, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore.
However, general manager Rafael Stone has said the Rockets don’t plan to make a significant in-season trade. It remains to be seen whether Butler, who is far older than the rest of the team’s core at 35, could challenge that stance with his availability.
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