2 Pros, 2 Cons facing the Miami Heat after the All-Star break

Pro: Jimmy Butler should be fresh

By the time Butler plays next Friday, he will have had 16 days off. He missed the last three games while attending to a death in the family, which is lousy for real-life reasons but it should be noted that he wasn’t absent because of any injury.

Prior to his excused absence from the team, Butler was putting together his best stretch of basketball this season, averaging 24.3 points on 56.3% shooting, 7.9 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2 steals in his last seven games.

Getting Butler back fresh and playing at that level for the playoff push would be the best thing going for the Heat, who have been playing most of this season with their superstar performing a notch short of his status.

Because of this latest absence, Butler has been disqualified from All-NBA consideration, but that shouldn’t stop him from playing like one of the league's best 15 players.