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LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 02: Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat reacts during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game Two of the 2020 NBA Finals at AdventHealth Arena at ESPN Wide World Of Sports Complex on October 02, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The Miami Heat<\/a> were forced to trade Jimmy Butler<\/a> last season. Butler decided that he didn\u2019t want to play for the organization anymore after they denied giving him a max contract extension. He made things extremely uncomfortable.<\/p>\n Right before the trade deadline, Miami traded Butler to Golden State. The Heat got Andrew Wiggins<\/a> in return. This season, they sit 10th in the Eastern Conference standings, meaning that they will be in the play-in. That is also where the Warriors<\/a> sit in the West.<\/p>\n Jamie Jaquez Jr. tried his best to keep Butler in Miami. He recently recalled calling him after his infamous press conference, where he claimed he\u2019d lost his joy for basketball.<\/p>\n Jamie Jaquez Jr. Tried to Keep Jimmy Butler With the Heat<\/p>\n While appearing on the Zach Lowe Show<\/a>, Jaquez Jr. recalled trying his best to keep Butler happy in Miami.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I did call him after one of those press conferences. I was like \u2018Hey man, whatever problems you got, we\u2019re here. Whatever problems you\u2019ve got with your teammates, we\u2019re here. We want you to feel like we got your back\u2019 type of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jaquez Jr. was the only teammate from Miami to give him a call after the press conference. Unfortunately for him, it did not work. Butler was determined to make his way out of Miami, and the trade to Golden State took place just weeks later.<\/p>\n Butler led the Heat to two NBA<\/a> Finals appearances in his tenure. He was the best player on the roster, but he has burned bridges with multiple franchises now. Butler forced his way out of Minnesota, Philly, and Chicago, as well. That may eventually happen in Golden State, as well.<\/p>\n Miami didn\u2019t receive a great return for Butler, really only getting Wiggins back. Wiggins is solid, but he\u2019s not the same caliber of player that Butler is. Miami is poised for a rebuild soon if they are not able to land any big players this offseason.<\/p>\n Miami Will Try to Land One More Superstar This Summer<\/p>\n The Heat have always been a desirable team for other players. They will use that to try to land another superstar this offseason. Miami called the Bucks<\/a> about Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, but Milwaukee decided not to trade him. That could change this summer.<\/p>\n If Miami fails to land a superstar, they might pivot into rebuilding. This season, they have the 13th-best offense<\/a> in the league. They need to find a way to increase that output. Bam Adebayo<\/a> had a random 83-point game, but that is not his forte as a player.<\/p>\n Tyler Herro<\/a> has hardly been healthy this season, playing in just 30 games due to various injuries. His lack of availability has been a big reason why the offense has struggled. Adding someone like Antetokounmpo would be able to help them in that regard.<\/p>\n Next season, the East should be even harder to compete in. The Pacers<\/a> will be title contenders again. The Celtics<\/a> will be fully healthy for the entire season. Other teams will emerge, as well. Miami needs to take a big swing to have any shot of making the playoffs.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tRyan Stano<\/a> Ryan Stano covers the NBA and College Football for Heavy.com. He has been covering sports since 2017, covering the NFL, College Football, College Basketball, and the NBA. His work has been featured on Yahoo, Bleacher Report, FanSided, and Sports Illustrated. More about Ryan Stano<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Heat\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 02: Jimmy Butler #22 of the Miami Heat reacts during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3778],"tags":[7,144,295,189,3881,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-696207","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-miami-heat","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-heat","10":"tag-miami","11":"tag-miami-heat","12":"tag-miamiheat","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116341877643707606","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}