In the wake of the ongoing league debacle around Jimmy Butler, Kendrick Perkins isn’t a huge fan of any potential trade that several teams may pull for the Miami Heat star.
In ESPN’s NBA Today, Perkins expressed skepticism about the significance of a Butler trade for any receiving team.
“Any of those situations, I believe Jimmy Butler can help any of those teams,” Perkins said. “But at this point, we got to ask ourselves. Is it worth it?
“Pat Riley didn’t extend Jimmy Butler this offseason and it was the right decision. It was a business decision. We’re talking about a guy that’s 35 years old, a guy that’s basically at the back end of his prime. Does it really make sense?
At age 35, Butler is already approaching the tail end of his career.
He is currently in the middle part of his three-year, $146.6 million extension with 2025-26 holding a player option. It has been widely expected that he won’t exercise it to look for a new max contract.
Butler had hoped that he’d land a new deal this past summer with the Heat, but Pat Riley didn’t entertain an extended partnership with their franchise star.
This ended up becoming the root of the current drama that the entire Miami endures. Nevertheless, Butler remains eager that he’ll eventually secure one in a recent report.
In the earlier reports by Shams Charania of ESPN, the Golden State Warriors, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and the Phoenix Suns are some of the key few teams that are on Butler’s wish list for a potential new destination outside Miami. It remains to be seen if they’ll end up going aggressive for the service of the All-Star.
The case of hesitancy to go for a Butler trade is completely understandable for most teams. While the future Hall of Famer is an undisputed postseason performer, his age and durability have been a huge question mark. He never played for more than 65 games in each of the past five seasons due to injuries.
A team that would obtain Butler will ultimately shoulder the burden of giving him a new contract amid concerns about his health and potential decline. They’ll also certainly give up tons of depth or assets in a possible transaction.
For now, we can only wait for what would be next in this embattled Butler saga and observe if there’ll be a team that would gladly take a gamble in acquiring Butler.
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