I am chary of trade speculation from those unknowledgeable of the NBA's new salary cap. That includes most everybody, including the undersigned. Comes now, however, speculation from a knowledgeable, respected NBA pencil, Brian Windhorst. Windy suggests a trade of Jimmy Butler to (back to)...Philadelphia is feasible financially and reasonable.
"You don't just have to use cap space on free agents; you can use it in trade, and this is where I think Daryl Morey is going to go to work. The first name to watch is Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat," Windhorst said on a recent episode of ESPN's Get Up. "He's got two years left on his contract, and there is interest in him extending. You may remember, and I know the Sixers fans do, that the Sixers chose this Tobias Harris contract instead of paying Jimmy Butler five years ago. Well, that contract is up. If Jimmy Butler wants to extend and the Heat are not willing to do it, facing heavy luxury tax penalties, is there a way to revisit that?"
"The player at the top of their list is Paul George."@WindhorstESPN thinks the Sixers are going to give PG-13 a max contract offer in free agency, and will look to monitor Jimmy Butler and Brandon Ingram's situations 👀 pic.twitter.com/bRVVY1XeeO
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 3, 2024
...a package that sets up their [the "Heat's"] future could entice them. The Sixers have assets [read: draft picks] from the trade that sent star James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, along with contributors such as Buddy Hield and De'Anthony Melton.
And, there is this from David Aldrich of The Athletic:
Jimmy Butler And The Miami Heat Are At A "Tipping Point" As Tensions Rise
Jimmy Butler era could be over in Miami after a first-round playoff loss.
Are the Miami Heat on the cusp of implosion? According to NBA insider David Aldridge, the relationship between Butler and the Heat franchise has soured in recent months — and he has it on good authority that both sides are nearing their breaking point.
There are signs — subtle ones, because it’s Miami — that era could be nearing a tipping point.
"There have been murmurings this year that Butler and the Heat may no longer be singing from the same hymnal"...
...
Butler’s never played more than 64 games in any of his five seasons there...
Yet 64 regular-season games of Butler, followed by his postseason dynamism, would serve the Sixers well.
If this roster, especially with Jimmy as the fulcrum, is brought back intact, and I don’t mean with the addition at the margins of a Delon Wright here, a Terry Rozier there, I mean without major change, the addition of a “whale”, the org. is going to lose Greater Miami. The ticket-paying public is not going to put up with another of the same ol’ same ol’. 601 Biscayne is aware of this crossroads they stand at.
