The Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t get past the first round of the 2023-24 postseason, which is a major defect they must consider when adding to the roster this summer.
The last half decade has seen Jimmy Butler miss more than 20 games for the Miami Heat on four of five occasions, but the hard-nosed grinder’s playoff exploits are the stuff of legends, and the Lakers happen to know them well. Despite dealing with a plethora of injury problems in the lineup, often his own, Butler has led a No. 5 seeded Heat team (2020) and a No. 8 seeded Miami squad (2023) to the NBA Finals twice in the past five years — and made it to a third Eastern Conference Finals another season (2022).
Now, Butler could be on his way out of Miami, and the Lakers — who narrowly bested him in the 2020 Finals — are one of the best three landing spots for a man who could help them get back to the promised land for the first time since the league’s Covid bubble. At least, that’s according to Adam Wells of Bleacher Report.
“If [LeBron] James and [Anthony] Davis decide to put pressure on the Lakers for an all-in move this offseason, Butler wouldn’t be a bad addition to this roster. There’s the very-real potential for this hypothetical trio turning into a disaster because all three of them have injury question marks,” Wells wrote on Wednesday, June 26. “But if the Lakers can get one healthy season from all three of them, they could be as good as any trio in the NBA. Opposing teams would have all sorts of issues trying to score against Butler and Davis.”
Reality Check for Heat Likely to Result in Trading Jimmy Butler in Coming Months
Butler was seeking a two-year extension with the Heat worth $113 million this offseason, per Howard Beck of The Ringer. However, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Thursday that Butler will not seek an extension with any franchise this offseason, Miami or otherwise.
“His decision to play out next season commits him to Miami and clears up any notion of a trade demand due to the lack of an extension,” Charania wrote. “Butler has an affinity for Miami and has wanted to stay with the Heat, league sources said.”
The issue, however, isn’t that simple.
Team president Pat Riley indicated after the Heat’s season ended in the first round of the playoffs that he didn’t intend to trade Butler. Riley also called Butler out for trash talking teams like the Boston Celtics, who eliminated Miami in the first round, after being too injured to face them on the court and help the Heat advance.
If Riley never intended to extend Butler on the kind of deal he wants, and Butler doesn’t intend to sign an extension worth less than he believes he’s worth, then the Heat find themselves at a tricky crossroads leading into the summer and up to next season’s trade deadline.
Butler will earn just shy of $49 million this year, after which he can opt out of the final $52.4 million season on his three-year contract. That figures the likely outcome, as the six-time All-Star turns 35 years old in September.
Jimmy Butler Almost Single-Handedly Pushed Lakers to Brink in 2020 NBA Finals
The Heat can’t afford to let Butler walk for nothing, even if his exit opens up a significant amount of salary cap space to make a play in free agency, which Miami can do more effectively than most outfits due to the attractive nature of the city where NBA players are concerned.
That’s why Beck predicted that the Heat will trade Butler in the coming months, regardless of what Riley says and regardless of what Butler wants or doesn’t.
“Jimmy Butler will be traded,” Beck wrote on June 21. “Rival executives have been buzzing about it for months, for all the obvious reasons.”
Making a trade now would allow the Heat to bring on roughly $49 million in salary, some perhaps in the form of young players the franchise will want to keep long-term, and the rest in expiring contracts it can clear next summer to open up free agency. Draft assets would certainly be a part of any package, and the Lakers currently have first-round picks in 2029 and 2031 at their disposal.
Butler would make an old Lakers roster even older considering the pieces L.A. has to work with to make a deal work for Butler. But, as Wells noted, one healthy season between James, Davis and Butler might be enough to get Los Angeles over the hump in a stacked Western Conference.
Butler averaged 27 points per game and scored at least 35 points four times during the Heat’s run to the 2023 Finals as the East’s 5th seed. Butler also put up at least 35 points on three occasions during the 2020 bubble playoffs, including twice during wins against the Lakers in the Finals — 40 points and 35 points in Games 3 and 5, respectively.
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