As Jimmy Butler’s suspension from the Miami Warmth attracts to an in depth, his exterior choices look like dwindling.
Veteran NBA author Marc Stein reported to Substack on Sunday that one rumored suitor doesn’t plan to pursue the Warmth star Butler in free company this offseason — the Brooklyn Nets. Stein additionally notes that the Nets “aren’t locked into the thought” of buying and selling for a celebrity this offseason both.
That issues loads for Butler as a result of he loses main leverage over the Warmth right here in his efforts to pressure a commerce forward of the Feb. 6 deadline. Butler has been said to be interested in playing for Brooklyn, and the Nets are one of many valuable few groups within the league with the power to doubtlessly prolong Butler a max contract provide this summer season.
With the Nets now seemingly out of the combination, the specter of Butler leaving the Warmth in free company for nothing might be now not there. That signifies that Miami doesn’t have to panic-trade him proper now for 70 cents on the greenback and might maintain onto him via the offseason.
They’ll look ahead to Butler to select up his $52.4M participant choice and return to the drafting board for a sign-and-trade that will return extra belongings for them then than it will now (since Butler would have a full 12 months left on his contract with a brand new workforce as an alternative of only a few months).
In fact, the six-time All-Star Butler can at all times throw a wrench into Miami’s plans by taking a reduction as a free agent and leaving anyway. However contemplating that he’s now 35 years previous and that cash was a central reason why his relationship with the Heat broke down within the first place, that looks like an unlikely final result at this level.