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5 Painful Heat regrets that set back the Jimmy Butler era

With the Miami Heat coming within reach of the franchise’s fourth NBA championship several times during the Jimmy Butler era, there is ample room for regret.

By Daniel Riccio

Miami Heat v Milwaukee Bucks
Miami Heat v Milwaukee Bucks / Patrick McDermott/GettyImages
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3. Not exploring trades for Kyrie Irving or James Harden

Over the years, the NBA has seen a lot of superstar movement in the trade market. During the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 season, respectively, the Heat made no efforts to bring in a pair of available superstars. Kyrie Irving was traded to the Dallas Mavericks and James Harden was traded to the LA Clippers.

Both players have assets to their games that instantly could’ve elevated Miami. Something that has been a repeated problem over the years is limited offensive production, especially come playoff time to help Butler. Irving and Harden are generational scorers that could’ve added a much-needed scoring jolt.

Irving especially just saw himself help lead the Mavericks to the NBA Finals a few months ago. It seemed that off-the-court issues among the two reportedly held the Heat front office back from taking the risk on the pair of stars. Irving and Harden both had Miami as a preferred trade destination, but Pat Riley opted to sit back and look elsewhere for options to improve.

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