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The Philadelphia 76ers have aims of trading for another star after finally moving on from James Harden. Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls and OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors have reportedly emerged as potential targets for Philadelphia, and DeMar DeRozan's expiring contract would make him a snug short-term fit if Daryl Morey is still intent on prioritizing cap space this summer. Other prospective trade candidates will no doubt surface as 2023-24 continues.
Unlikely to be among them? Jimmy Butler, who's led the Miami Heat to two of the last four NBA Finals and came within a single three-pointer of driving his team to a third. Barring a king's ransom in return, there's just no realistic world in which Pat Riley and company move on from Butler for at least the next couple seasons, or at whatever point his age finally starts to show when it matters most in the playoffs.
Don't tell that to Kendrick Perkins, though. If you do talk to him, be sure to remind the ESPN talking head of how Butler and the Heat fared during the 2022-23 regular season before making yet another run to the NBA Finals.
It makes no sense for the Heat to trade Jimmy Butler
On Wednesday's edition of NBA Countdown, Perkins submitted Butler as a potential trade target for Philadelphia due to Miami's 1-3 start after missing out on adding a star before the season tipped off.
“What about a Jimmy Butler? Miami's struggling. We don't know what Miami's gonna be. They missed out on Bradley Beal, they missed out on Damian Lillard, they also missed out on Jrue Holiday. Do we think Miami's gonna make one of those runs again this postseason? Absolutely not. So my thing is, at what do Miami say, ‘You know what, how many times are we gonna run with Jimmy Butler like that?'”
"What about Jimmy Butler? Miami is struggling… Do we think the Heat will make one of those runs again this postseason? Absolutely not."
Kendrick Perkins proposes the idea of the Sixers trading for Jimmy 👀
(via @ESPNNBA)pic.twitter.com/tISWT4VsNC
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 1, 2023
The Heat will definitely run with Jimmy Butler like that for the foreseeable future. Teams don't trade players of Butler's caliber and get similar on-court value back in return. Moving on from Butler for the Sixers' cache of future picks and tradable salaries would shut Miami's championship window until the team lands another top-tier star to pair with Bam Adebayo—all while Riley, 78, is in the twilight of his tenure as team president.
The Heat are far more likely to push more chips in for a win-now trade this season than effectively begin a soft rebuild by parting ways with Butler. In the bizarro world of Miami even being interested in trading Butler, Philadelphia would have no chance of acquiring him without including Tyrese Maxey, a non-starter, or roping in a third team to drastically increase the value of the package going back to South Beach.
Butler, to be sure, would be a near-perfect fit next to Joel Embiid and Maxey in the City of Brotherly Love. He and Embiid remain close after the Sixers' one-season rental of Butler in 2018-19, too. But none of that changes all of the real-world obstacles that will prevent Butler from ever becoming a realistic trade option for Philadelphia before the trade deadline comes and goes on February 9th.
