Superstar Slams the Miami Heat as ‘Mediocre’

 

 

Jimmy Butler is dissatisfied with how the Heat are performing and has criticized his teammates for being subpar.

The Miami Heat are currently 11-9 on the season, and Jimmy Butler isn’t happy with how things are going. When asked where he believes the Heat stand after 20 games this season, the 34-year-old branded his club ordinary.

“We stand right where we don’t want to be, which is very mediocre,” Butler went on to say. It’s not good, it’s not horrible, it’s not fantastic, it’s just ordinary. When it comes to offense, we’ve been middling. When it comes to defense, we’ve been middling. So that is the word I would use.”

Butler’s comments came during a 144-129 loss to an Indiana Pacers team missing Tyrese Haliburton. The Heat were without Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, but Haliburton is the Pacers’ best player, and losing in that fashion in his absence was disgraceful.

Butler, who is averaging 22.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks a game in 2023-24, pointed out that the Heat have been pretty mediocre. Their 11-9 record places them sixth in the East rankings, in the middle of the pack. They are also ranked 16th in the league in terms of defensive rating (113.5) and 11th in terms of offensive rating (114.8).

 

 

These aren’t the characteristics of a championship-contending squad, but you wouldn’t dismiss the Heat’s chances. We witnessed them struggle during the regular season in 2022-23 before advancing to the NBA Finals. Still, you have to question if they blew it by not making a big in the offseason.

This offseason saw three huge moves, and the Heat were linked to all three players before they were traded away.

The first was Bradley Beal, who was eventually dealt to the Phoenix Suns. Beal said that he originally wanted to join the Heat, and that he even spoke with president Pat Riley about it. According to a later story, the Heat did not want to pay the luxury tax for Beal.

Then came the infamous failed pursuit of Damian Lillard, which dragged on for months. It seemed inevitable at one point that Lillard would end up on the Heat, but their assets reportedly did not interest the Portland Trail Blazers, and the star guard ended up on the Milwaukee Bucks.

Jrue Holiday went to the Blazers as part of the deal and he became another big name linked with the Heat. They missed out on him too, however, with the Boston Celtics landing Holiday.

If this iteration of the Heat ultimately fails to win a title, they might look back at this offseason with a great deal of regret. They had multiple chances to make a splash but ended up doing nothing.

 

 

Lillard appeared to be the main target for the Heat this past offseason, but it seems they were willing to put together a bigger package for Holiday. Insider Ethan J. Skolnick reported why that was the case.

“Jrue’s contract is friendlier. He plays defense, which the Heat value; and the Heat don’t believe that Dame does.”

Lillard will earn over $160 million in salaries in the next three seasons while Holiday only has a player option worth $37.3 million for next season. He is also a far better defender and in that sense, would have been a better fit.

I just believe what the Heat needed, though, was firepower on offense. One of the big reasons they ultimately failed to win the title was because Butler seemed to run out of gas after carrying such a heavy load on offense for much of the postseason.

The Heat are also good enough defensively to cover for one player who’s weak on that end of the floor. Perhaps a move for Donovan Mitchell might be on the cards next year, but they’ll face stiff competition for him as well.