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While the NBA still recovers from the aftershocks of the mind-boggling Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers trade, several big names remain on the market, including that of Miami Heat star forward Jimmy Butler. Butler has made no secrets of his desire to take his talents out of South Beach, but as of yet, the Heat haven't been able to find a deal that makes sense for them moving forward.
There has been much speculation that a potential third team could be involved in a deal to help facilitate a Butler trade, and recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report dropped some insight as to two potential candidates for such a role.
“Don’t forget about Brandon Ingram potentially being a matching salary back or somehow factoring in a multi-team construct with Toronto getting involved or just Toronto ending up coming in and taking on Brandon Ingram,” said Fischer, per Bleacher Report on YouTube. “That interest from the Raptors remains real from my understanding.”
Brandon Ingram makes about $36 million this year, while Butler makes $49 million, so if another salary in the $10-12 million range were added to the deal, Ingram could indeed be a helpful chip to help accelerate a Butler deal.
Meanwhile, Ingram would take a lot of the pressure off of Scottie Barnes in Toronto, giving the Raptors a legitimate perimeter scoring threat as well as some added versatility on the defensive end of the floor.
Will Jimmy Butler get traded?
A week or two ago, it seemed like a formality that Jimmy Butler would indeed get traded. However, with just 48 hours remaining until Thursday's deadline, there's growing concern over whether Pat Riley and company may be asleep at the wheel.
The fact that Luka Doncic was only able to net the Dallas Mavericks one (!) first round pick is certainly not going to make Heat fans very hopeful about a potential return for Butler, although it should be noted that teams like the Phoenix Suns who are theoretically desperate might be willing to swing for the fences.
In any case, the Heat have two more games before the trade deadline, starting on Tuesday evening on the road vs the Chicago Bulls.
