Getty Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
The Miami Heat have said they don’t intend to deal star Jimmy Butler this summer, but some prominent NBA insiders contend that is merely posturing on the team’s part.
Howard Beck of The Ringer flat out stated on June 21 that Butler will be on the move ahead of next season.
“Jimmy Butler will be traded,” Beck wrote on June 21. “Rival executives have been buzzing about it for months, for all the obvious reasons. Butler is about to turn 35 (with a lot of hard miles and a lot of injuries), with one year left on his Heat contract, and is reportedly seeking a two-year, $113 million extension. If the Heat grant it, they’ll have little to no flexibility to add another star. And they absolutely need one.”
Using Beck’s reporting as his premise, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report named the Memphis Grizzlies a “surprise landing spot” for Butler, who will likely garner interest from several organizations if he ends up on the block.
“If the Grizzlies want to re-establish themselves as a powerhouse in the conference, bringing in Butler to team up with Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. would certainly make a statement,” Swartz wrote. “A deal based around Desmond Bane seems like the most likely outcome. Losing Butler hurts, although it gives the Heat a new 26-and-under core of Bane, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Nikola Jović to build around without worrying about an extension for Butler.”
Desmond Bane Would Bring Elite Offense, Young Legs to Heat
GettyDesmond Bane of the Memphis Grizzlies drives the ball against Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors during an NBA game.
Bane would slot into the Heat backcourt as a dynamic scorer. He has averaged 21.5 and 23.7 points per game in the past two regular seasons, respectively, while shooting 41.5% from deep for his career on 6.4 attempts per game.
Bane doesn’t have Butler’s size or defensive prowess, though Bane has proven himself a solid defender across his four-year career. He finished last season with a defensive rating of 116.6, while the league average defensive rating was 116.1 — essentially ranking Bane as a middle-of-the-pack defender.
Bane signed a five-year, $197.2 million deal with the Grizzlies in July 2023 that keeps him under contract through the 2028-29 campaign. Bane will earn $34 million next season, while Butler will make $48.8 million in 2024-25, which means Memphis would have to include more players than just Bane in a trade to make the salaries match up.
Jimmy Butler Suits Grizzlies’ Short-Term Timeline, Style of Play
GettyJimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
Memphis finished 13th in the Western Conference last season and will select 9th overall during the first round of the NBA draft on Wednesday. But the organization’s positions at the bottom of the standings and in the lottery are not necessarily indicative of what the team will be in 2024-25.
Morant played just nine games for a Grizzlies roster that battled injury issues to several key players for most of last season. However, Morant was an All-Star each of the previous two years, and Memphis entered the 2022-23 playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the West.
That conference was a beast last year, even despite the absence of the Grizzlies as a real threat. A healthy roster led by a hungry Morant on a potential season-long redemption tour following a lengthy suspension from the league could make for a high-powered and hard-nosed contender that would suit Butler perfectly.
As such, the Grizzlies may well be willing to part with a promising young shooting guard in Bane for a veteran like Butler with a ton of experience deep in the postseason.