Jimmy Butler has earned a Miami Heat extension and it’s really that simple.
Creatively, the Heat front-office will be able to work around such a deal for Butler, as they could apply a descending adjustment to his contract. This is where the yearly salary of Butler’s extension would gradually lower itself for each season, in order to avoid any potential risks.
It’ll be critical for Miami to stay away from possibly backloading a deal, especially for a player who’s suffered a number of injuries over the last few seasons. Butler will be 32 years of age in September, which will draw much concern for whether or not he’ll be able to live-up to the extremities of that extension.
Do the Heat still view him as a continual cornerstone player that they can continue to win with, in addition to convincingly lure other stars to join him in South Beach? The simple answer is absolutely.
While leading the Heat in scoring, Butler finished the year with career-highs of 7.1 assists and 6.9 rebounds, on 49 percent shooting from the field. Butler also led the Miami Heat in the categories of Player Efficiency Rating (26.5), Box Plus-Minus (7.5), and in Usage (26.6). For what’s been a match made in heaven between the two parties, you can consider Butler’s early tenure with the Heat as an overachievement.