Pat Riley has been known to continually develop talent despite not being picked in the draft lottery. This is largely where he and Coach Erik Spoelstra have thrived together while working for the Miami Heat. However, it looks like that might not be the case in the Joel Embiid-led Philadelphia 76ers' plea to trade for Jimmy Butler. Lacking draft capital alongside some salary filler might not even be the reason why this move won't push through.
The Heat front office led by Pat Riley is not interested in trading Jimmy Butler for the package that the 76ers are offering them. What does the trade offer look like? Well, it is reportedly up to three first-round picks and three first-round pick swaps.
A glaring reason why they will not likely be trading Jimmy Butler to the 76ers is because of the Heat's stance on trading star players for picks. They simply loathe the idea which rules out any possibility of this package enticing them to pull the trigger, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.
The fact that the 76ers are only getting stronger because of Joel Embiid's availability and Tyrese Maxey's rise to stardom makes it seem like the Heat are also helping out a rival instead. But, a deal could still be done. That is if a third team gets involved and gives the Pat Riley-led squad better assets to work with.
Jimmy Butler's situation with the Heat
As time goes by, it looks like the Heat have more concerns with Butler. While Riley took issue with Butler's inability to play in the big games, there is another rising problem that they reportedly have to deal with. Tim Legler of ESPN posits that there were some games when the star did not look interested in putting out his best work on the floor, via Get Up.
“It’s not just the games that he misses. Another 15, or 20 games where it looks like he’s disinterested in playing offensively. So as a result, the Miami Heat are digging themselves out of the play-in situation. And this is what you end up with, playing the top seed,” Legler discussed.
Butler's attempted field goals did not have that much of a significant drop-off. He chucked up 13.9 shots from the field last year. That number went down to 13.2 field goals attempted this season. The impact became noticeable because those shots were also not hitting the bottom of the net. His field goal percentage clocks in at around 49.9% which is surely not the 53.9% it was last season.
“This is what Pat Riley’s point is. It’s not just the missed games. Those are important. It’s the other nights where you watch him play. You’re kind of like, ‘Man, are you only interested in the postseason offensively to be an aggressive player?’ That’s where everybody is kind of scratching their head. That’s the point where Pat Riley is right now with watching all of this. It gets old,” Legler added.
Will all of these be a factor in Butler's departure from the Heat?
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