NBA analyst speaks on why the Miami Heat made a mistake by parting ways with veteran guard after he joined the team due to the infamous Jimmy Butler trade.
For nearly the last six years, the Miami Heat relied on Jimmy Butler to keep them competing for an NBA Championship.
During the process, the Heat did reach the NBA Finals twice, but they suffered one-sided defeats both times. This, alongside Butler wanting a new, significant deal, led to things getting sour between the two sides.
The Heat ultimately traded Butler to the Golden State Warriors in a five-team deal, in which they received veteran guard Dennis Schroder, among other assets.
Schroder is currently playing in the 12th season of his NBA career and this year has been pretty eventful for the former 17th overall pick of the 2013 draft.
To be precise, Schroder started the season as a member of the Brooklyn Nets. He impressed fans with his performance for the Nets.
However, considering the Nets are tanking for a high lottery pick in the upcoming draft, D-Schrod was traded to the Warriors.
Schroder seemingly fit well within the Dubs system, but it wasn’t enough to truly elevate the team to an NBA title contention. As a result, the Warriors parted ways with him in the Butler move.
The 31-year-old was sent to the Miami Heat. However, the Heat didn’t think he was a good fit on the team as Schroder was cut by the franchise even before playing a single game.
He later signed with the Detroit Pistons, which marked the third change in scenario for the veteran guard in a single season.
The new era for the Heat hasn’t been perfect for Miami as they struggled to adjust to life without Jimmy, even going on a huge losing streak before stabilizing this season.
Despite getting derailed after the Butler trade, the Heat still managed to clinch a Play-In tournament spot this season. However, NBA expert Bill Simmons believes that buying out Schroder wasn’t a smart move in the Heat’s quest to play in the postseason.
“I don’t love Miami dumping Dennis Schroder for no reason when they got him in that deal when they clearly kind of wanna be a playoff team.”
This was one move Simmons touted for his ‘worst deadline decisions’ category on his latest podcast, although gave that dubious honor to the LA Lakers rescinding the Mark Williams trade.
Considering the Heat are still the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference, they aren’t a contender for the championship by any means.
