Heat lose out as 76ers land Butler

MIAMI — The speculation is over for the Miami Heat, as is the possibility of landing Jimmy Butler.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have agreed to a trade to send Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers.

It means, at least for the moment, the speculation also is over for the Heat’s Josh Richardson.

“It means less tweets I’ve got to see about it,” Richardson said before Saturday night’s game against the Washington Wizards at AmericanAirlines Arena. “I wasn’t super concerned about it. And there’s never closure in this league. You can still always be traded.”

According to multiple media outlets, the Timberwolves will send Butler and center Justin Patton to the 76ers for Dario Saric, Robert Covington, Jerryd Bayless and a 2022 second-round pick. The 76ers own the Heat’s 2021 unprotected first-round pick, which was not included in the trade.

The trade is expected to be finalized

Monday.

With the move, the

76ers solidify themselves among the Eastern Conference’s elite along with the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors and emerging Milwaukee Bucks. It potentially further distances the Heat from a top seed in the East, with Heat president Pat Riley stating this week a goal of at least finishing among the top five in the conference this season.

Philadelphia plays Monday at AmericanAirlines Arena, but Butler is not expected to make his 76ers debut until later in the week.

With Butler having requested a trade before the start of training camp, the Heat had stood as an initial front-runner, with those talks reaching the stage where the Heat was granted Butler’s medical information, with the medical information of Richardson forwarded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It was then reported that the Timberwolves requested additional assets from the Heat, at which point Riley made the rare public announcement that he was “pulling the plug” on trade talks.

Among Heat players linked to trade talks with the Timberwolves were Richardson, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, Dion Waiters and Goran Dragic, among others. The Heat’s

2019 first-round NBA draft pick also was believed to be in play.

ESPN and The New York Times reported that Richardson had been pulled off the table by the Heat in advance of the Timberwolves coming to their agreement with the

76ers. Richardson acknowledged it was difficult to ignore the speculation.

“It’s a business,” he said last month. “It is what it is. It’s a cutthroat business. I know that. I can’t get too up or too down about situations like that.

“For like the first hour, I was hearing from everyone. But after that, it is what it is. I don’t get too much into it. When it first came out a little bit, yeah, it was hard to ignore.”

Riley on Thursday denied making trade offers.

“I never called anybody to ever make an offer, but there’s always conversations,” he said.

Butler will be a free agent next summer, with the Heat lacking the salary-cap space to make an offer, which had been cited among reasons for the Heat’s aggressive pursuit. Had the Heat acquired Butler in a trade they also would have acquired his Bird Rights, which would have allowed them to re-sign the All-Star guard next summer. Even with Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons in place, the 76ers are positioned to sign a prime free agent in addition to Butler in July.

A week before Riley’s “pulling the plug” statement, Riley refuted a report that he had used a profanity amid trade discussions with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who also handles the team’s personnel decisions.

Riley then issued a statement at that time that read, “As to what has been reported in the past 24 hours, I have too much respect for Tom Thibodeau and all that he’s accomplished in this league. Our conversations have been nothing but cordial and I have never used that kind of language in negotiations.”

That statement came in the wake of a report from former Heat broadcaster Jorge Sedano on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles cited Riley antipathy toward Thibodeau.