Jimmy Butler is now a happy member of the Miami Heat (well, at least for now), but his journey to South Beach was certainly an interesting one.
Butler was originally selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 30th overall pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, and while he had a terrific collegiate career at Marquette, not much was expected from him when he entered the pros.
However, it didn't take Butler long to prove people wrong, as he developed into a fine role player by his second season, and by his fourth year, he was an All-Star and one of the best wings in the game.
The problem is, by the time Butler broke out, the Bulls were already starting to go downhill.
Derrick Rose was a shell of his former shelf, Joakim Noah began to decline and Chicago simply did not have enough supporting talent to make a serious run in the Eastern Conference.
Little by little, Butler's frustrations grew as the Bulls lost more and more, and rumors persisted of a beef between Butler and Rose, with Butler reportedly questioning Rose's work ethic.
Butler even saw his relationship with Noah deteriorate at the end of Tom Thibodeau's tenure in 2014-15.
The Houston native also clashed with his second head coach in Fred Hoiberg, as he wasn't crazy about Hoiberg's laid-back style and thought that Hoiberg should have coached the team “a lot harder,” which certainly may have been a result of Thibodeau's philosophy, as Thibodeau was always notorious for being tough on his players.
Finally, during the summer of 2017, Chicago decided to facilitate its rebuild by trading Butler to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It was a move that everyone wanted. Butler no longer wanted to be a part of a losing franchise, the Bulls wanted to blow it up and the Timberwolves wanted a star to put alongside of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.
Of course, the Minnesota experiment lasted all of one season before things imploded. Yes, Butler helped lead the Wolves to their first playoff appearance since 2004, but tension between Butler and the Timberwolves' youngsters reached a boiling point that ensuing offseason, and early on during the 2018-19 campaign, a practice tirade from Butler (and a trade demand) resulted in the Timberwolves sending Butler to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Butler did not feel that Towns and Wiggins had the intestinal fortitude that he had, and he clearly was not thrilled with the work ethic of both players (which, perhaps not so coincidentally, was a problem he apparently had with Rose, and even funnier was the fact that Rose was a member of last year's Timberwolves squad).
So, was Butler just a victim of circumstances? Or was he merely a problem child?
It appeared to be the latter in his early days with Sixers news, as he immediately clashed with head coach Brett Brown, and his presence within the offense meant less shots for Joel Embiid, which Embiid did not seem too pleased with.
Philadelphia was bounced out of the second round of the playoffs with Toronto Raptors, and after just a few months with the club, the Sixers traded him to the Heat in a sign-and-trade deal this past summer.
Butler never seemed to have any intention of re-signing with Philly, and even if there weren't many problems that were publicized during Butler's short stint with the 76ers, it seemed obvious he wasn't entirely happy there, and he made that clear last month when he said that behind the scenes stuff occurred in Philadelphia, leading to his eventual departure.
He wouldn't elaborate, only saying that that stuff would come out at some point (whatever that means). But he did say he still speaks with Embiid daily, so it doesn't seem like he had any real problems with Embiid. Could it have been that the Sixers didn't offer what Butler wanted? Maybe his relationship with Brown was an issue? Whatever it was, it caused Butler to leave a whole lot of money on the table (around $50 million) to join the Heat.
But now, Butler seems content on a very interesting Heat team on which he is the clear top dog, something he was said to have wanted all along (although that didn't really work out in Chicago).
Is this the start of something special for Butler in South Florida? Or is another episode imminent if/when the Heat begin to struggle?
It remains to be seen, but at the moment, Butler is certainly playing the part of a happy star, and it's paying dividends for Miami in the Eastern Conference.
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