Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Staying above the fray
Heat remain tight-lipped despite growing role in Butler speculation
BOCA RATON — The outside noise is being muted inside the Miami Heat’s training camp, even as speculation ties the team closer to disgruntled Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jimmy Butler.
In the wake of the New York Times’ Mark Stein posting on Twitter, “Jimmy Butler and his agent Bernie Lee have informed Wolves ownership that Miami is Butler’s preferred trade destination, league sources say,” the Heat stood both proactive and taciturn Wednesday.
Before the team completed its morning session at training camp, a team spokesman said neither the players nor the staff would address trade speculation, just as had been done at Monday’s media day.
Then, when the workout was completed at Florida Atlantic University, coach Erik Spoelstra spoke in generalities about dealing with such moments.
“A lot of teams are dealing with a bunch of noise,” he said. “That’s the reality of this business. And if you just try to brush it under the rug and say it doesn’t exist, that’s not healthy, either.
“You have to be honest about whatever emotions that you’re going though and then control the control-ables, as we
like to say — focus on what you can control. And that’s practice. That’s meetings, preparing, in between, all the sessions.
Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who also handles his team’s personnel, has been deflecting questions since Butler’s trade demands became public last week.
“We’ll look at what’s out there and if something is good for us that’s what we want to do,” Thibodeau said at the start of training camp. “We’re going to honor his request but we’re not going to do a bad deal.”
Leaking interest in specific trade suitors is not unique to the Butler situation. Paul George, Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard all have made similar reported requests, with none dealt to the teams of their choice. George has nonetheless since re-signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, with the Toronto Raptors hoping for the same outcome with Leonard and the Boston Celtics with Irving. Like Butler, Irving and Leonard can become free agents this summer.
In the wake of the latest Butler speculation, Bovada.lv has installed the Heat as the favorite to have the scoring wing on their roster for his first game of the season, at 6⁄5. The Timberwolves now stand as the offshore book’s second choice, at 9⁄5.
It was against that backdrop that Spoelstra offered his thoughts after practice.
“The world and the league that these guys have to navigate through is much different than it used to be, and that’s league wide,” Spoelstra said. “So I think these are very valuable lessons on compartmentalizing and keeping your attention on what matters.”
Several Heat players have been linked to a possible Butler trade, including Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Kelly Olynyk, Bam Adebayo, Tyler Johnson, Goran Dragic and Hassan Whiteside. The Heat also are eligible to trade their 2019 first-round pick. Because of NBA trade rules, the Heat cannot put their 2020 or 2022 first-round picks into play, because of their 2021 first-round pick having been dealt.
Because of the Heat’s salarycap position, they are not positioned to add Butler in free agency in July, but could re-sign him by acquiring his Bird Rights in a trade with Minnesota. Any deal that requires the Heat to take on additional salary could compromise their ability to emerge as a player in 2020 free agency.
At issue for the ‘Wolves could be obtaining a similar return to what they dealt a year ago to the Chicago Bulls for Butler, a package that included Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn and the draft rights to Lauri Markkanen.