Getty LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers defends Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat
The Miami Heat haven’t had the start of the 2022-23 NBA season that they wanted nor that anyone expected, and have an underwhelming 6-7 record starting the season. They were rumored to be making moves all summer long but never did and already into the season are rumored again. So far, the rumors for been how the Heat can upgrade at power forward, but in a recent article from Bleacher Report, the Heat were linked to the Los Angeles Lakers in a potential blockbuster deal after the Lakers have been targeting a ‘mystery’ player which is why they haven’t made a deal with the Indiana Pacers for Myles Turner or any other moves.
“I will add one thing without going into all the detail, but I was canvassing a bunch of front office folks last week when I was workshopping my idea of ‘Can the Nets tear down now? Should they just tear down now? What could they reasonably get for Kevin Durant? Could they get anything for Kyrie Irving? Could they get anything at all for Ben Simmons?’ And in those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they’re waiting for a specific player. That they’re not doing the Pacer deal, that they won’t do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade [Russell] Westbrook and the two future firsts for,” Howard Beck said On The Crossover NBA Show.
Is Jimmy Butler the Player Los Angles is Waiting for?
With the Lakers waiting for a specific player in a deal rather than trading for Kyrie Irving from the Brooklyn Nets or Myles Turner and Buddy Hield from the Indiana Pacers, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report speculated about who the specific player that the Lakers could be waiting for and one of the players he named was Heat star Jimmy Butler.
“Miami has its own, superior megastar package ready to go. The Heat can theoretically dangle three first-round picks, three first-round swaps, Nikola Jovic and additional salary to, you know, chase the same players for whom the Lakers are pining.
Still, perhaps Miami is beholden to a market that isn’t boasting another superstar trade target. Jimmy Butler could thus decide to take matters into his own hands. Maybe he’ll want to play for the Lakers. And maybe other teams won’t be tripping over themselves to acquire a 33-year-old with three seasons and an estimated $146.4 million left on his deal (including a $52.4 million player option in 2025-26).
Perhaps the Lakers could then swoop in with Russell Westbrook, two firsts and two swaps to win the bidding,” Favale writes
Russell Westbrook to Miami Heat
While Butler could be a player on the radar of the Lakers, the reality is that he has three years remaining on his contract, and the Heat don’t have to move him, and moving him for the expiring contract of Westbrook makes very little sense even when you consider there being two draft picks in the deal. It’s hard to see Miami move their star player for pennies in return.