BY Damon Knight
This coming Friday, the Miami Heat will introduce for the first time, NBA superstar Jimmy Butler to their franchise. The Small forward Butler, 30, signed a four-year $141 million sign and trade deal with the Heat this past off-season. When asked about why he choose Miami? Butler said, on Wednesday.
“I think the culture that this organization is about, obviously the players that they have, the players they have had in the past, it fits who I am, what I’m about, how I think, how I go about what I go about every day,” Butler said of what drew him to Miami. “And it’s a new home for me, to tell you the truth. Not to mention that one of my best friends and a brother in Dwyane Wade did a lot for this organization and is an amazing player. So he may have had a little bit of something to do with it, as well.”
However, Butler was reportedly offered more money to stay put in Philadelphia.
According To Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports,
“the 76ers offered Butler a five-year, $190 million max contract, but he turned it down in order to take a four-year, $141 million deal from the Miami Heat.”
As part of the Butler sign and trade deal, the 76ers acquired Shooting guard, Josh Richardson. According to Sixers head coach, Brett Brown says, “I think Josh is almost kinda the ‘secret’, as important as any mortar,” said Brown on Wednesday. “He just holds us together, he really has a chance to hold us together because of his obvious skill of defense. He will guard the opposition’s primary ball-handler, in the past we had Jimmy do it, JJ do it, Ben(Simmons) do it, I feel like Josh will get that assignment of defending the opposition’s point guard.”
As for Butler, he brings tension to the Heat. According to former NBA player, Chris Bosh says, “It’s always a give and take,” said Bosh, “They have to learn him. He has to learn them. But tension is good. Healthy tension is good. And I think Jimmy brings that.
“That’s one of the points I always like to make when I say ‘tension,’ because people take that as a bad thing. People might take that as a bad thing, but sometimes locker-room tension is good, and a healthy dose of it, of team tension, is good, because you have to perform.” The Miami Heat will begin their season on November 12th, 2019 as they will take on the Detroit Pistons at American Airlines Arena.
