Heat needs talent like Butler
Hyde: Team has too many average players and no stars.
MIAMI — Monday was media day for the Miami Heat, the annual meetand-greet at the edge of a season for a team so unchanged it needs no introduction. The team’s first announcement had nothing to do with the players coming out.
It had to do with Jimmy Butler.
No questions will be taken regarding the trade rumors, a Heat spokesman announced.
No answer would even matter beyond team President Pat Riley’s bargaining words with Minnesota.
If I’m Riley, I slide my roster across the desk and tell Min- nesota to take whoever they want for Butler.
Justise Winslow and Bam Adebayo?
Done.
Goran Dragic and Josh Richardson?
Fine.
Any trade for Butler won’t come without the risk of age and dollars. But the Heat need a marquee player in his prime and Butler wants a new start outside Minnesota. The question becomes if this fixed marriage can happen?
The alternative came with the first question and general theme of Monday’s media day: Can a team with all the same moving parts have a different outcome than being pushed out of the playoffs in five games of the opening round like last year?
“We believe in continuity,’’
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We believe there’s a lot of different ways to build teams. In the few discussions we’ve had, we’re aware of the narrative.
“There’s one team that’s figured it out. Golden State has the template right now. … We think we have a unique group, a special group. We have some depth and talent we like. We like it. We have the ability to be better than last year. We think we can get to another level.”
That’s the smart message for Spoelstra to give. It’s the first-day blend of hope and growth for his players to hear. Riley said recently the roster had too many “good-to-great players,” which is right, if an exaggeration.
The Heat have too many average players. That’s the issue. You don’t have to believe chapter and verse of player rankings, but they’re a guideline to the issue. ESPN ranked Dragic as the Heat’s best player at 45th.
Butler ranks 14th.
“This league is about versatility, about flexibility about speed and quickness, about adaptability,’’ Spoelstra said. “We have a lot of that.”
Butler brings more and better. He wouldn’t turn the Heat into a title contender. He turns 30 this year and is unsigned after this season. Even if the necessary “wink-wink” agreement is made to extend Butler, he’d cost north of $30 million a year.
The Heat need a player like this, though. A few months ago, the idea was to give San Antonio the pick of the Heat roster for Kawhi Leonard. He ended up in Toronto. Now Butler comes on the market, and the question remains if the Heat have enough.
If Minnesota wants a high draft pick, the Heat lose out. If it wants a proven star, the Heat lose out. It doesn’t need center Hassan Whiteside, because it already has one unsteady but expensive center in Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Heat has plenty of overlapping players to offer, though. Winslow. Richardson. Whiteside. Tyler Johnson. Does any get Minnesota’s interest?
Minnesota might want a trade partner to take Butler and swallow poison, too. It might demand also taking center Gorgui Dieng, who averaged 5.9 points and costs $16 million the next three years. That could be the exit door for the Heat in this.
Too much? Probably, if Dieng is involved. The alternative is too known, though. This year looks like last year — no matter how bravely the Heat suggest otherwise.
“How do you think we’re wired?” Spoelstra said. “The one thing I know with the people I work for, we’re always pushing to another level. With the experience comes a humble respect. We know how difficult it is.”
The NBA is the most predictable of leagues, because talent is the most visible to all. The Heat need some top-tier talent. Butler is the target now. Get him, as he can move the Heat into the top half of the Eastern Conference. Lose him, and it looks like last season all over again.