How Heat's Jimmy Butler decision has huge impact on the Thunder
Yesterday at 02:41 PM
As the Miami Heat and forward Jimmy Butler's drama unfolds, its outcome could have substantial implications for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Amid a seven-game suspension, Butler reiterated his trade demand to the Heat. Team president Pat Riley reportedly dismissed a meeting with Butler at the end of last season when their relationship turned sour. However, if the Heat were to lose Jimmy while continuing to slide down the Eastern Conference standings, they could lose a first-round pick to the Thunder.
Miami's 2025 first-round pick, which the Thunder own, is protected 1-14 but becomes unprotected in 2026, which ESPN's NBA analysts Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps discussed, per Brian Windhorst and The NBA Collective.
"By the way, there's draft pick drama here, too," MacMahon said. "It is lottery protected this year owed to who else, Oklahoma City Thunder, and if it doesn't get conveyed this year, it's unprotected next year."
If the Heat aren't competitive in 2025-26, it could turn into a high first-round pick for Oklahoma City.
"By the way, that makes their 2028 pick to Charlotte automatically unprotected if that happens," Bontemps said. "So they go from having no unprotected picks to having two unprotected picks out if they don't make the playoffs this year."
It'll be intriguing to see how things unfold between now and the NBA's February 6 trade deadline.
Pat Riley snubbed Jimmy Butler before Heat questioned effort
NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Heat president Pat Riley stiffed Jimmy Butler months before the team questioned Butler's effort on the floor. Haynes revealed how things played out between Riley and Butler after the disgruntled forward made comments about a potential contract extension, per the Dan LeBatard Show.
"I think that's what Pat Riley was referring to when he said something along the lines of, "If you're not playing, you probably should stay quiet." Obviously, that rubbed Jimmy [Butler] the wrong way," Haynes said. "He felt like those comments took things too far. Both sides recognized the need for a face-to-face meeting to clear the air after everything that happened.
"Jimmy was under the assumption that Pat was going to visit him during the offseason at his place in San Diego," Haynes continued. "Jimmy even told him about it, but that meeting never materialized. Pat never went out there. There was no communication — no texts, no phone calls, no face-to-face meetings — until January 1, when the Heat brought Jimmy into the office. At that meeting, they questioned his effort, suggesting they didn't think he was giving his all."
Since that meeting, there's been no further communication between the two.
The post How Heat's Jimmy Butler decision has huge impact on the Thunder appeared first on ClutchPoints.
