Tag: Jimmy Butler

Udonis Haslem assures that Sixers target Jimmy Butler not leaving Heat

Udonis Haslem assures that Philadelphia 76ers target Jimmy Butler is not leaving the Miami Heat.

There have been connections between the Philadelphia 76ers and Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler as the offseason begins to get underway. Butler is looking for a max contract extension while it is unclear the Heat will give it to him.

The Sixers, meanwhile, are willing to offer Butler the max should they be able to acquire him from Miami. The big issue is the Heat are unlikely to just accept draft picks for Butler. Miami is chasing a title of its own and would need a third team to get involved–the Cleveland Cavaliers maybe–in order to get what it neds to continue the title chase.

Heat legend Udonis Haslem was on ESPN’s “Get Up” and assured that there was no way Butler was leaving Miami:

Hell to the naw, you can’t get out of the 305. How you gonna do that? You gotta go through me; I’m standing at the county line.

Heat president Pat Riley had some words about Butler trolling the New York Knicks and the Celtics after Miami was eliminated. Butler essentially stated that if he had been healthy, he would have led the Heat to win over both teams. Those comments by Riley began sparking the rumors that they could trade the star.

Haslem put those thoughts to bed:

We speak our mind in Miami, if you guys don’t know that by now. We believe in eye-to-eye communication. We don’t believe in walking away with our heads down and mumbling under our breath. We’re gonna say what we feel. We’re gonna move on to the next situation.

Just because Haslem says that Butler isn’t leaving the Heat doesn’t mean that the Sixers won’t try. President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey tends to get the star he believes he can get. The Sixers are going to do everything they can to get that third star and Butler will certainly be on Philadelphia’s minds.

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Gilbert Arenas believes Sixers should go get Jimmy Butler back from Heat

Former NBA All-Star believes the Philadelphia 76ers should go get Jimmy Butler back from the Miami Heat.

The Philadelphia 76ers will be involved with almost every big name in the upcoming offseason frenzy, but the biggest names that have been attached to the Sixers are Paul George and Jimmy Butler.

The Sixers can go get George in free agency, but if they want to bring Butler back to Philadelphia, it would have to be via trade. The Sixers had Butler in the 2018-19 season before he left to join the Miami Heat in the offseason. Since then, he has led the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals appearances and they have made the finals twice.

Former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas says the Sixers should go bring Butler back from the Heat:

I mean, how many top free agents actually went to Philly? They need one man, that’s Jimmy Butler…He didn’t want to leave. Him and Embiid–It was a coach that didn’t want him. Jimmy Butler back here, keep big fella under control. He’s going to demand from big fella.

The Sixers would likely need a third team to get involved in a potential Butler deal. The Heat will not just move him for draft picks as they are chasing a championship of their own. Therefore, the Sixers and the Heat would have to get creative so everybody gets what they are looking for.

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Jimmy Butler’s verbal altercation with Fred Hoiberg on Bulls

During his time on the Chicago Bulls, Jimmy Butler got into a verbal altercation with then-head coach Fred Hoiberg.

The Chicago Bulls roster has tossed and turned for the past decade, but at the beginning of the 2010s, it was run by Jimmy Butler. The now-Miami Heat forward cut his teeth with the Bulls, but was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves after spending six seasons with the franchise.

Since then, he’s played for the Philadelphia 76ers and Heat, bringing Miami to two NBA Finals appearances during his time there. Butler has been known for his hard-nosed style on and off the court, and during his time in Chicago, that was very apparent, too. He even got into an altercation with then-head coach Fred Hoiberg.

During an appearance on the Thanalysis Show, a podcast hosted by Milwaukee Bucks big man Thanasis Antetokounmpo, ex-Bull Michael Carter-Williams recalled a verbal altercation between Butler and Hoiberg. (H/t Doric Sam of Bleacher Report)

“Coach Hoiberg is like, ‘Jimmy, this starts with me and you, what’s going on?’ And then Jimmy goes, ‘Well, one, I think you’re soft. Two, I don’t like you,'” Carter-Williams explained. “And he didn’t even get to three and Coach Hoiberg was like, ‘Well, then f–k you, Jimmy.'”

Butler has made a career out of this type of mentality, and though it may not rub some people the right way, he’s found plenty of success along the way.

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Sixers target Jimmy Butler prefers to stay with Heat going forward

Philadelphia 76ers target Jimmy Butler would prefer to stay with the Miami Heat in the offseason.

The Philadelphia 76ers will have a lot of money to spend in the upcoming offseason. They will either be big players in free agency or in the trade market as they look to make upgrades on the roster.

The Sixers have a star duo: Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Now is the time for President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey to make the moves he needs to make to help the roster. The Sixers are continuing to chase the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference who are in the finals for the second time in three years.

One idea is to bring back Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. The Sixers had Butler in the 2018-19 season and then he left to join the Heat that offseason. He has led Miami to finals appearances in 2020 and 2023 and to the Eastern Conference finals three times.

While the Sixers would like to bring him back, Butler said in an interview with GQ that he would like to bring a title home like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh have done in the past:

“I feel at home, man. I really care about the city, I really care about the people in this city. Miami has embraced me. They’ve wanted me to bring them something they haven’t done since LeBron, D-Wade and C-Bosh. And I want to do that. So as soon as I get this knee back right, I’m right back on they ass and everybody know it.”

Butler wants a contract extension, and the Sixers are willing to give it to him if they can bring him back, but he prefers to have it with the Heat.

Philadelphia can offer a great deal to Butler. It would just take a lot to get him. Miami is trying to chase a title of its own so it wouldn’t just accept draft picks from the Sixers in a Butler deal. The Heat would certainly need a third team to get involved and it remains to be seen if that can happen.

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Report: Sixers ready to offer Jimmy Butler the max if traded from Heat

The Philadelphia 76ers are reportedly ready to offer the max to Jimmy Butler if he is traded from the Miami Heat.

The Philadelphia 76ers are ready to make a big move in the 2024 offseason and seriously challenge the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference. They have the cap space and the assets to upgrade the roster around Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

One realistic option is Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler. Of course, the Sixers are familiar with Butler. He played half of the 2018-19 season in Philadelphia before signing with the Heat as a free agent. Since then, Butler has led Miami to the Eastern Conference finals three times and the finals twice (2020 and 2023).

However, Butler is getting up there in age and he has missed plenty of time due to injury. He was unable to play in the 2024 playoffs due to an injury suffered in the play-in tournament loss to the Sixers. Therefore, there is a school of thought the Heat will move Butler even though Pat Riley put that thought to bed when asked by Miami media.

That doesn’t mean the Sixers will not monitor the situation. Per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, they are ready to offer Butler the max if he is traded from the Heat:

The Sixers view him as a fallback option if they are unable to sign Paul George in free agency.

And, according to sources, the Sixers are prepared to give Butler a maximum-salary extension if things align and he forces a trade out of Miami.

It is obvious Plan A in free agency for the Sixers is Paul George. However, if the George idea falls through, the Sixers will look at other options such as Butler or Brandon Ingram. Philadelphia has significant cap space and will be looking to use it to upgrade the roster. A Butler trade is one of those possibilities.

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Bulls-Jimmy Butler trade listed among biggest draft surprises of last decade

The Chicago Bulls trading Jimmy Butler in 2017 was called one of the biggest NBA Draft surprises in recent memory.

The Chicago Bulls haven’t made many trades recently. In fact, since their big-swing moves in 2021, they’ve been almost completely inactive on the trade market. But at one point, they decided to make a mega deal. At the 2017 NBA Draft, they traded Jimmy Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves. David Kenyon of Bleacher Report listed the trade among the six biggest surprise deals of the last decade.

“Ordinarily, draft-day trades are basically just swapping rights to a prospect with future picks involved,” Kenyon wrote. “But in 2017, the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves broke the mold in an eye-popping deal. Chicago sent Jimmy Butler and 16th pick (which became Justin Patton) to Minnesota for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the No. 7 selection (Lauri Markkanen).

“The original outlook was very unkind. Moving on from Butler signaled the formal beginning of a rebuild, yet Chicago still parted with him and a valuable first-round selection for a player recovering from an ACL injury (LaVine), a guard who struggled in his first season (Dunn) and a rookie (Markkanen). The bright side for the Bulls is hindsight does not paint such an ugly picture, largely because Butler requested a trade from the Wolves just one year later.”

Trading Butler is still looked at as a rough move by some Bulls fans, but he ended up leaving Minnesota, anyway.

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Can Ayo Dosunmu make a Jimmy Butler-like offensive leap for the Chicago Bulls?

If everything comes together, can we realistically see a Butler-esque step forward from the Illinois alum?

Can backup guard Ayo Dosunmu make a Jimmy Butler-like offensive leap for the Chicago Bulls next season? In the Bulls’ injury-addled 2023-24 campaign, the Chicago guard’s leap forward as a player was one of the team’s few bright spots in an otherwise forgettable season for the Bulls.

Now, the team is reportedly making some major changes in the coming offseason if we can trust the word of the team’s front office (and history tells us that this is no small “if”). Will they help retool the team in a way that elevates Dosunmu’s game next season? And if everything comes together, can we realistically see a Butler-esque step forward from the Illinois alum?

The hosts of the “CHGO Bulls” podcast took a closer look at what such a transformation would entail, and whether it is too much to ask from a young player like Dosunmu.

Check it out in the clip embedded above!

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Miami Heat team president Pat Riley criticizes Jimmy Butler’s comments about the Boston Celtics

Riley related that he could not initially tell if Butler was joking.

Fans of the Miami Heat were absolutely eating it up when star Heat forward Jimmy Butler talked some serious smack about the Boston Celtics and how his presence might impact their 2024 Eastern Conference first round series, implying Miami would have won the 2024 first round series had he been healthy enough to play.

But that little diatribe from Butler did not go over very well with the Heat President of Basketball Operations Pat Riley, who called out his star forward in a recent video put together by the team. “If you’re not on the court, playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut and your criticism against those two teams (to yourself)” said the Miami executive.

In fact, Riley related that he could not initially tell if Butler was joking. But the breach of team etiquette was egregious enough for the former Los Angeles Lakers legend that he felt the need to address it in public.

Safe to say that most fans of the Celtics find themselves in the unusual position of agreeing with Riles.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Pat Riley had a fiery response to Jimmy Butler trolling the Celtics while injured

Pat Riley sounds VERY annoyed with Jimmy Butler.

Fresh off an appearance in the 2023 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat disappointingly fell way short of their goals after losing to the Boston Celtics in five games in the first round. Part of that might have been due to Jimmy Butler’s knee injury, who didn’t appear in the series.

It’s what Butler did while sidelined that seems to have ruffled the wrong feathers in South Beach.

On Monday, during his season-ending press conference, Heat president Pat Riley gave his take on Miami’s year and what might happen next for the organization. When it came to discussing Butler’s antics while trolling the Celtics, Riley sounded very annoyed, to put it lightly:

To be fair, Riley probably has a point. Unless you’re actually playing, there’s no need to fan the flames for a competitive playoff rival. I probably wouldn’t have said this in public, though, so it’s worth noting that Riley did. He’s been around the block before with star players.

This sentiment is especially notable in the context of a discussion that centered around Butler’s future, who has two years left on his contract with the Heat. Despite any rumors to the contrary, it doesn’t seem like Miami and Riley are quite ready to move on:

What this all sounds like to me is that Riley wants his franchise player to just carry himself more like a franchise player. It’s probably not to the point that he would sever ties with Butler, but who knows?

Who could Sixers potentially add to the roster in the 2024 offseason?

Three names have popped up as potential upgrades to the roster for the Philadelphia 76ers.

The 2023-24 season is over for the Philadelphia 76ers, ended by a 118-115 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series. Once again, the Sixers were unable to get past the second round, due, in no small part, to the injury adversity that knocked them down to the No. 7 seed.

Now, the Sixers head into an important offseason. They are armed with significant cap space and will be looking to add another max player alongside Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The goal is to build. Philadelphia has to find a way to put the right pieces around its new star duo to contend in the East.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst hopped on “Get Up” on Friday morning and discussed a few possibilities:

So what they are going to be able to do here is sign a player up to a max contract and then sign Maxey. They can do both. The player at the top of their list is Paul George. His contract extension discussions with the Clippers have not led to an agreement. The Clippers are fighting for their playoff lives tonight in Dallas. They have not wanted to offer the max contract they got Kawhi (Leonard) to accept an extension less than the max. That has been the standard, and I think that Philly’s gonna come out with a max offer to Paul George and the Clippers are gonna have to decide max or not? And Paul George’s got to decide do I want to stay here or not? But you don’t just have to use caps based on free agents. You can use it in trade and this is where I think Daryl Morey is gonna go to work.

There are names that make sens in a possible trade scenario. One name that Windhorst brought up was a former Sixers star:

There’s going to be a number of names are going to come up but I’m gonna give you two off the bat here. Both involve players who can get extensions with their teams but for various reasons will not. The first name to watch is Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat. He has got two years on his contract. There is interest in him extending and you may remember and I know the Sixers fans do, 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, you know, facing heavy luxury tax penalties, is there a way to revisit that? Remember they have assets from the James Harden trade that they can use in addition to cap space.

Then, there was a third option Windhorst brought up:

Also another player to watch: Brandon Ingram. He had a very poor playoff session for the Pelicans. He’s due a contract extension. The Pelicans have never paid the tax in the history of the franchise. They are set to sign Trey Murphy as sort of a big dollar player alongside Zion Williamson. This is a player who might be on the market, and again, I don’t think he’d be their No. 1 choice, but behind Paul George, this type of player is who Philly could potentially look at to add firepower and offense to this team.

A lot of eyes will be on the Sixers in the 2024 offseason. Given their cap space, one has to assume they will be in the running to add a major piece in the summer.

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