Analyst Floats Wild Heat Trade Involving Multiple All-Stars, Former No. 1 Picks

Ever since the Miami Heat tapped out of the NBA Playoffs, the hoops blogosphere and fans alike have been pontificating on what Pat Riley should do to get the club over the hump in the East next season. To that end, there’s little chance Godfather doesn’t make a big move or two this summer.

And with free agency and the summer trade season tipping off in a matter of days, there has been a growing sense that he’ll be hunting another big star to put alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.

Although a number of name talents have been bandied about as potential targets — Donovan Mitchell, Bradley Beal, et al. — Nets star Kyrie Irving has gained major traction in recent days amid reports that he’s discontented in Brooklyn and that Miami is on his list of preferred landing spots.

With that in mind, Fox Sports’ Chris Broussard pitched a blockbuster trade sending Kyrie to South Beach during a discussion about whether the seven-time All-Star would make the Heat serious title contenders.

However, his wild proposal missed the mark by a wide margin in the eyes of his co-hosts and, well… just about the entirety of NBA Twitter, too.

Broussard’s Deal Would Include Kyrie & Ben Simmons

As the First Things First crew broke down various Kyrie scenarios on Friday, Broussard pooh-poohed the notion that Riley could pull the superstar with a package featuring the likes of Max Strus, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry and picks. Rather, he believes that the Heat would/should have to go all out if they want to acquire him.

In turn, he thinks Brooklyn should be “hardcore” negotiators in their Irving-related dealings.

With that in mind, he floated the following deal between the rival franchises:

• Brooklyn Nets receive F Jimmy Butler and C Bam Adebayo
• Miami Heat receive PG Kyrie Irving and G/F Ben Simmons

For the uninitiated, that’s the living example of #HeatCulture in Butler and the team’s defensive anchor in Adebayo for two of the Association’s most embattled ballers; one who left Boston in a shambles and missed 2/3 of the 2021-22 season while objecting to the COVID-19 vaccine and the other who hasn’t suited up since the 2021 playoffs and has also been criticized for his mindset and imperfect game.

In short order, Broussard was hammered by the rest of the panel, including Nick Wright who joked about Miami dealing “Dwyane Wade’s retired jersey, Jimmy Butler, the naming rights to the arena and half of Biscayne Bay.” He also slammed Broussard’s negotiating strategy.

Needless to say, the fan response wasn’t much kinder.

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Fans Are Shredding Broussard & His Proposal

No sooner had a clip of the segment hit social media than fans began firing stiff shots at the longtime league pundit and his wacky deal, which very clearly misses the point of actually trying to improve the Heat’s roster around Butler and Adebayo.

“You need medical attention,” deadpanned one commenter.

“Butler is better than Irving and Adebayo is better than Simmons. Why would Heat ever do this?” wondered another perplexed tweeter.

“Jimmy Butler has had as much success as Jayson Tatum’s career in just 3 years in Miami but yeah, let’s get rid of him for guys who don’t even like to play basketball,” a third fan added.

“THAT MAN IS DRUNK AF, THEY LET ANYONE ON TV NOWADAYS,” exclaimed another doubter.

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