After a rash of injuries to key players and inconsistent play, the Heat own a 12-17 record, a far cry from last season when the team made the NBA Finals. As Miami prepares for an NBA Finals rematch against the Lakers on Saturday, superstar Jimmy Butler discussed the team’s 2020/21 season.
Speaking to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols on The Jump, Butler discussed the Heat’s “terrible” play thus far, as well as his confidence that the team will things around. At 12-17, Miami occupies the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference but is just 1.5 games from the eighth seed. Butler expressed optimism for the remainder of the season and also covered his battle with COVID-19.
Butler’s assessment on the Heat’s performance this season:
“Terrible. Terrible. Just terrible. Not the way we say we want to play. Not the way we’re supposed to be playing. But it’s OK, because we will turn it around. And like the saying says, better late than never.”
Butler on Miami’s ability to turn things around:
“We know what adversity is. We’re supposed to be better. We’re supposed to get better and bring everybody up with us. Maybe here and there we’ve forgotten that. We will get back to it, though. I promise you that. We will.”
Butler on his fight with COVID-19 earlier this year:
“Yeah, it’s scary. Don’t believe reports of me losing 12 pounds, either, ‘cause that’s not the case. I had a light headache, and I felt like I was ready to go. I wanted to compete. Obviously, you cannot do that. But it didn’t hit me that hard.”
Gotta believe Pat Riley is going to make moves with next season in sight. Oladipo is the best UFA on the market under 30. Should target John Collins and maybe Markkanen for their bird rights. Outside the box move would be for Bol Bol.
They are unlikely to match Nunn’s contact. Probably will match a Robinson contract (3/45M seems plausible).
If they don’t go that route, maybe deal for bad contracts with 1sts attached.
Dragic – lowest PER since 10-11.
Iggy – Lowest PER of career.
Leonard – Season Ending Surgery.
All have team options. All could be used in a trade this season for salary matching. All 3 combine for 42M.
If he keeps shooting the way he has this year, him signing a QO isn’t out of the question
Heat Celtics and 76ers need to make insane offer for Collins
Heat insane offer thru 3rd team
Herro, Achiuwa and a future First
Likely
Another team has decided to give Collins max plus 15% trade ticker in summer
As is
The ceiling of Heat, Celtics and 76ers are 2nd round exit come playoffs time
Trade idea while I am boring
Hawks get Wolves pick thru Warriors
Knicks get Kelly Oubre and Heat future First
Warriors get Herro and Achiuwa
Heat get John Collins
So what exactly ar the Knicks giving up to get Oubre and a first?
The Warriors give up Oubre, the Wolves pick for Herro and Achiuwa
The Hawks give up Collins for the Wolves pick
The Heat give up Herro, Achiuwa, a first for Collins
The Knicks give up nothing to get Oubre and the Heat 1st
Eliminate the Knicks altogether. Then let the Heat get Oubre and send the Heat 1st to the Warriors and the deal looks good though. Otherwise the Heat are giving up way too much for Collins.
It’s an amazing trade for NY getting Oubre and a first for nothing.
Knicks give up $15 million cap space and send a 2nd round pick to Heat
Heat overachieved last season in a fairly weak East. Butler is, at best, a solid number two if his ego can be kept in check…quite frankly, he is a glorified Draymond Green because he can actually play both sides of the ball. Butler is still a role player…granted , a very good one. Nevertheless, the Heat are being exposed this season… they were never title contenders last season, they simply didn’t have much competition in the playoffs until they had to face the West.
Agree
For elite title contenders
Butler is a second banana
Draymond is a third mango
Ben Simmons is a third mango
Wiggins is the fourth apple
Defensive FG for qualified starters as of February 18 morning
Wiggins 38.9%
Butler 39.8%
Draymond 41.3%
Gobert 41.8%
Ben Simmons 42.5%
Giannis 43%
Top tier DFG
Let’s call the Heat unis tonight mango-colored, the Lakers in their usual banana-colored. The refs in black will be the apples, albeit rotted.
Butler is a top 25 player let’s be fair, sometimes Top-15 is arguable
Butler’s definitely way better than Draymond, and it’s not even close. Offensively there is simply no comparison. Butler averages 19 PPG while Green is barely averaging 5 PPG. If it wasn’t for all of his assists, Draymond would be an enormous liability on offense.
It’s much closer on defense, but Butler is still better these days. Dray was a top 10 defender two years ago after winning DPOY in 2017, but he’s no longer elite. It’s absolutely ridiculous to suggest that Butler is a glorified Draymond. The former is a legitimate star player, while the latter is a grossly overpaid role player.
In fairness, the East has been the weaker conference every year since Michael Jordan left the Bulls. Even the LeBron/Wade Heat teams were usually on a plateau by themselves in the East while the West had 4-5 teams nearly as good or better.
Sounds grudging so I had to look. The Lakers and Mavs faded in those years, with the Clips and Blazers coming on. OKC & Spurs stayed strong but the Spurs relied on an HVAC failure to win a title. (That was NOT in Bas.Ref!)
link to reddit.com
2009 was the last year the EC won the most games. The MIA/LJ years saw the WC win 58%, 58%, 58%, & 63% of games. The record for top 8 teams, 8th team, & 9 team are even more pronounced. And get this, since 2000, the US national team has finishes of 3rd, 3rd, & 6th with mostly EC players, and 6-0 in golds with mostly WC players!
So the WC probably had more equal to MIA than the EC, though I’m not sure any was better 2010-2014.
lying about the seriousness of someone else’s health concerns is a low, low depth to stoop to.