Career stats with Miami: 146 GP, 12.5 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.3 APG, 1.5 SPG, 0.3 BPG, 40.2 FG%, 29.5 3FG%, 80.2 FT%
After snapping a streak of six straight playoff appearances with a 36-win campaign in the 2001-02 season, the Heat wound up with the 10th overall pick in the 2002 draft. When the Phoenix Suns plucked Amar’e Stoudemire one spot ahead of them, the Heat pivoted to select UConn swingman Caron Butler at No. 10.
Butler averaged nearly 13 points per game during his first two months in Miami, but his shooting efficiency (39.9 percent) left much to be desired. He began to turn that around when the calendar flipped to 2003, and he took off when Eddie Jones went down with a season-ending injury in early March, averaging 18.0 points per game on 46.1 percent shooting over his final 22 outings.
The stage appeared set for Butler to be Jones’ long-term sidekick in Miami, but the 2003 draft thwarted those plans. When the Heat selected Dwyane Wade with the No. 5 overall pick, it pushed Butler back in the pecking order.
That summer, Miami also signed 1999 No. 4 overall pick Lamar Odom in free agency, which relegated Butler to being the No. 4 option for the 2003-04 Heat. His per-game averages plunged to 9.2 points on 38.0 percent shooting and 4.8 rebounds, and he went from looking like a permanent fixture in Miami to a potential sinking cost.
The Heat cut bait on Butler in 2004, packaging him with Odom, Brian Grant, a 2006 first-round draft pick and a 2007 second-round draft pick in a trade with the Los Angeles Lakers for Shaquille O’Neal. Shaq Diesel went on to help the Heat win their first-ever championship one season later, while Butler played another 12 years with eight different NBA squads.
Had Butler stayed in Miami and not been supplanted by Wade and Odom, he could have been one of the Heat’s all-time great draft picks. Instead, he found himself a victim of circumstance.
Next: No. 8