Jimmy Butler might be the name we hear about all season long. After this season, he has a player option for the 2025-26 season. He turned 35 years old in September and is looking for one more contract. This summer, the Heat were not willing to give it to him, and he might leave next summer as a free agent.
So, now the question arises: will the Heat trade Butler? And if so, for what? While the Golden State Warriors are widely rumored to be interested in Butler, there might be another team on the West Coast that needs Jimmy.
Houston Rockets Should Trade for Jimmy Buttler
According to former NBA writer and analyst, now podcast guru Bill Simmons, the Houston Rockets are the best fit. In his recent podcast titled “Six Major Things Going On in the NBA,” he talked about how and why the Rockets should trade for Butler. We have to say that his reasoning is not far from the truth.
Why Would Miami Trade Butler?
The Miami Heat have been one of the most successful teams in the past five years. They made the Conference Finals three times and the Finals two times. Only the Boston Celtics have been more successful during that span. Yet, it seems like they have reached their potential as a team. While they are a hard-nosed, defensive-minded team, they lack something. Yes, in the playoffs, Jimmy can go off, and they can beat any team. But they do not have the pieces to grind the regular season.
In his first game this season, Butler scored only 3 points on 1-8 shooting. He was -30 for the game. We should not overreact to one game, but if the season starts badly for the Heat, they might consider trading Jimmy. He is their best asset unless they want to trade Bam Adebayo. Jimmy is expensive; he will make almost $100 million in the next two years if he opts into his contract. They didn’t give him an extension this summer, which was a smart move. But how long can the Miami Heat go like this? If the season drags, Jimmy might not be happy and ask for a trade. If Jimmy doesn’t play well, his trade price will only go down as he is not getting younger.
Why Would the Houston Rockets Trade for Jimmy Butler?
Bill Simmons mentioned his theory that there are teams that have too many good guys. That means guys that think they deserve between 30 and 40 minutes. You cannot have too many of those young guys on your team. The OKC Thunder are an exception. Houston has plenty of good players, but it seems even the team doesn’t know which players are there for the long run and which are trade assets. Last year, they brought in Ime Udoka as head coach, and they hoped to make the playoffs. They were the 11-seed and missed out on the play-in tournament by five games. This season, the Rockets once again are hoping to make a playoff push.
Can the Houston Rockets Trade for Jimmy Butler?
The Houston Rockets have plenty of assets to make a trade for a big-name player. They have guys with high salaries, draft picks, and young players. There were rumors during this summer that the draft picks Houston accumulated were for a trade for a player like Kevin Durant. But Jimmy is no slouch, either. Bill Simmons proposed a trade with Stephen Adams’s expiring contract, Dillon Brooks, and then draft capital and young players like Amen Thompson, Cam Whitmore, or Jalen Green.
For the Rockets, the trade would bring in an experienced veteran who can lead the team in the playoffs and play mentor to young stars like Alperen Sengun. Houston has plenty of young legs for the regular season. For Miami, it would be a chance to start fresh and build around their young players like Tyler Herro, Nikola Jovic, and Jaime Jaquez Jr.
