If Heat trade Jimmy Butler to Rockets, they better hold out for future star
By Brennan Sims
Why the Heat would do it
As Bailey wrote in his piece, Whitmore is an obvious fit with the Heat's young core. Whitmore offers something different than what the Heat have now. He's a score-first, aggressive forward who can knock down the three here and there. Whitmore isn't a strong playmaker for others or stout defensively, but he's fearless (we know that's how Pat Riley likes them).
Whitmore's potential as a scorer is enticing, and with that skill, he has a chance to make this his calling card. However, if the Heat really did trade with the Rockets, Jalen Green is the young scorer I'd want back in any deal.
Green was the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft class and hasn't necessarily lived up to expectations. Touted as a generational scorer like Tracy McGrady, Green has yet to quite materialize into that.
Green didn't sign a massive rookie extension like Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, and Franz Wagner did. This is a big prove-it year for Green. He has to develop more of an "I want it" mindset defensively. He was more alert on the ball last year, but he still needs work off the ball. Udoka will require another defensive leap from Green if he wants to close games.
His flaws aside, the Heat haven't had a scorer with his upside in a while. He's been an average finisher around the rim through three seasons and has an icy-hot jump shot. When he's on, there's nothing like the Jalen Green experience. He's an elite scorer when he's rolling, but if Green can't consistently give you that, he won't live up to his potential. He needs to have fewer cold nights or contribute in other ways when his jumper is off. But if the Heat were going to deal the third-greatest Heat player of all time, it needs to be for a player some level of star upside.
Jeff Green is a serviceable vet in this trade. If the Heat made this trade, it'd restart their timeline, and having a vet like Green on the roster would help the young guys become better pros. Bailey writes that Landale would be an easy piece to trade, but that's if he's attached to something. You're not getting a meaningful return with Landale headlining a trade.
Those first-round picks won't be extremely valuable if Butler helps the Rockets become one of the best teams in the NBA. Houston has a chance to invade the Wild West without Butler this season. Pairing him with the deep young talent they already have smells like a team that'll be around for a while.
Trading Butler to his hometown franchise would put the Heat in uncharted territory. Rolling out that team -- minus Butler, plus Whitmore and others -- would mark the first time in a while that Heat fans unanimously understood that our championship window is closed.