One former NBA star believes trading Jimmy Butler will go down as a worse decision than trading Luka Doncic.
The Miami Heat thought Jimmy Butler was the problem. The franchise felt as though trading the former All-Star would solve all their problems. That just simply hasn’t been the case.
Butler joined the Warriors via a trade and has thrived on his new team. Meanwhile, the Heat have been embarrassing since the trade, going 4-14 in that period.
The Heat just matched a terrible record from their worst season ever. One Heat star admitted to how disappointing they have been over the last few games.
Kyle Anderson and Andrew Wiggins also claimed they have been far from their best. The aftermath of the Butler trade has not been kind to them.
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Former Mavericks guard Theo Pinson spoke on To The Baha about the Jimmy Butler and Luka Doncic trades. He noted that the Butler trade is worse than the Doncic trade.
Pinson pointed to Butler embodying the Heat culture better than any star. And the decision to move him has left the Heat of a star who carries the team and enforces their culture.
“That is a worse trade than Dallas and the Lakers, by far… Jimmy Butler was Heat culture. Regardless of what the f*** you thought he was doing off the court, that motherf***** brought a toughness.”
“He brought a mentality. He had leadership. Bro, I swear to God, it did not matter what seed the Miami Heat were – if they got in the playoffs, any team that played them didn’t want to see him and had to buckle the f*** up.”
While Pinson’s argument is valid, there are a few reasons why people might disagree with him. Although there is no denying how bad the Butler trade has been for the Heat.
Read More: ‘I wish it was me that got traded’… Warriors star would have preferred to be sent to Miami Heat instead of Andrew Wiggins
The Jimmy Butler and Luka Doncic trades came under very different circumstances. Butler was a 35-year-old star in decline who didn’t want to be on the Heat unless he got paid.
Whereas Luka Doncic is a 25-year-old generational talent who loved playing for the Mavericks and was traded out of the blue.
Doncic can change the long-term future of the Lakers, whereas Butler is unlikely to make an impact as long or as deep as Doncic under normal circumstances.
In the moment, it is easy to say which deal is more disastrous. But the Heat didn’t mortgage their long-term future by trading Butler, unlike the Mavericks.
