Miami fears Nets could help Jimmy Butler walk in free agency

Miami and Brooklyn will be enemies on the trade market for at least the next week, but maybe not for the reasons you’d typically expect. 

Heat executives decided to lower the price for six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler due to a growing belief that the Brooklyn Nets could absorb salaries and help free cap space for a team to sign Butler outright in free agency, per Yahoo Sports analyst Kevin O'Connor. Houston was mentioned as a partner for the Nets in such a scenario. 

Brooklyn can easily continue star searching and try to maximize that potential through the next year, so making any abrupt moves for Butler or Kings guard De'Aaron Fox wouldn't really align with the organization's timeline for a rebuild. If the Nets can reel in more picks and it comes at the expense of leaving Miami unable to deal Butler, so be it to Brooklyn. 

Obviously, Brooklyn would prefer to avoid long-term contracts. Should a team like Houston be desperate enough, it will pay the Nets handsomely for disposing the salaries.

The Heat, of course, would like to get something out of this and put everything behind them as soon as possible. Pat Riley allowing Butler to cause this level of distraction and then walk away for nothing would be a nightmare scenario for the Heat, also far from Brooklyn's problem.  

O’Connor, who reported Tuesday that Golden State had interest in Miami's disgruntled star, now says four-time NBA champion Stephen Curry isn’t sure about Butler's fit on the roster. Curry and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr both share the sentiment that Butler could be a recipe for disaster, given his track record at multiple previous stops, according to O’Connor. Chicago, Minnesota, Philadelphia and Miami all certainly understand. 

If Draymond Green and Butler in the same locker room seems like a good idea to anyone, especially those aiming to maximize Curry’s final years in the Bay Area, questions should follow to find out where you’ve been for the last decade. Trading for a $48 million player is hard enough as it is, and at the cost of potentially Andrew Wiggins, Gary Payton II and Jonathan Kuminga as O’Connor suggested in his report, it isn’t worth the headache for Golden State. 

Butler’s options only get more difficult from there. Phoenix is his preferred landing spot, but the Suns are still in a massive struggle to find a new home for Bradley Beal’s horrendous contract. Memphis now enters the picture as the biggest wild card in this trade fiasco.

The Grizzlies were supposedly informed that Butler doesn’t want to join the organization, still those reports haven’t stalled rumors of interest. 

Brooklyn already has Memphis harboring hard feelings this trade season, and Miami could soon be the next team outraged by the Nets. 

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