The Jimmy Butler sign-and-trade for the Miami Heat is on, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. ESPN reports Butler will head to Miami as the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers get involved as third and fourth teams.
In the current framework, the Heat are sending wing Josh Richardson to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Butler's max contract signature (four years, $142 million) in Philly and trade to South Beach. Miami will trade Maurice Harkless—recently acquired via the Hassan Whiteside for Harkless and Meyers Leonard deal—to the Clippers along with a first-round pick going to LA from the Heat.
To sum it up, here's how the four-team deal looks:
- Miami Heat GET: G/F Jimmy Butler, F/C Meyers Leonard
- Philadelphia 76ers GET: G/F Josh Richardson
- Portland Trail Blazers GET: C Hassan Whiteside
- Los Angeles Clippers GET: F Maurice Harkless, first-round pick (Miami)
Whiteside's expiring contract has been a nuisance for the Heat in the last year, so the team will have to part with a future first-round pick in order to facilitate the deal, alongside trading Richardson for four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler.
In his eight-year NBA tenure, the former Most Improved Player Butler has averaged 16.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game in 523 career appearances. He's shot 45.4% from the field, 34.1% from three, and 83.5% from the free throw line.
Prior to the four-team trade, the original framework of the Miami-Philadelphia Butler sign-and-trade would have most likely been Richardson to Philly, Butler to Miami, and either guard Goran Dragic or center Kelly Olynyk to the Dallas Mavericks. However, due to a cap snafu, the Miami Heat had to redo the deal to land them the 29-year-old Butler.
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