One of the more confusing news stories to come out of NBA free agency has been Jimmy Butler’s admiration of the Heat organization. Buckets is reportedly enamored with Miami due to the way they handled D-Wade’s retirement. The Heat of course went all out and the entire city/surrounding area gave him a terrific send-off. Butler was so impressed with the embrace of D-Wade that he will be meeting with the Heat in Miami this upcoming weekend.
The Rockets of course have also been linked to Butler, though that would require a sign and trade.
This whole Miami thing is incredibly odd on so many levels though. For one, Jimmy Butler has long stated that his ultimate goal is to win an NBA championship. All the roster shuffling he’s done – particularly with Minnesota – lends credence to this. He plays the game hard and always takes things to a new level in big situations (2019 playoffs, Celtics game). Butler seems like a guy who wants to compete, so why Miami?
Their roster isn’t good enough to be competing even with the addition of Butler and contention could be years away. If Butler signed with Miami, it’s hard to see winning being a huge priority for him.
Point two, does Jimmy not know who D-Wade is to that town? He’s what Derek Jeter is to the Yankees and what Tom Brady is to Boston; a border-line god. Wade accomplished so much in that town, was there for most of his career and gave everything he had off the court. Even if Jimmy were to single handily slay Lebron’s next super-team, he still wouldn’t be as adored in Miami as D-Wade.
I’m sure he knows that, so what gives with this Miami nonsense? Does he not see how we treat Allen Iverson? The dude is at practically every game and acts like a regular fan. I don’t know about you, but that’s the atmosphere I would want over Heat fans leaving early during the Finals and getting locked out.
Also, does Jimmy Butler not know how the Sixers reward their greats? All he has to do is win a championship in this town and he can look forward to being the proud owner of a boat. Not a great boat, but a boat.
So what’ll it be Jimmy? The greatest Sixer of all time got a tiny ass boat so I’m sure there’s room in the budget to hook you up with a 2003 Toyota Camry with 100,000 miles on it courtesy of Gary Barbera. It can even say “buckets” on the side. Sound good?