Shams Successfully Bullied Pat Riley And The Heat Into Publicly Declaring They Are Not Trading Jimmy Butler

Miami Herald. Getty Images.

With the NBA's trade deadline a little more than a month away, it's no surprise that we're going to continue to get leaks and reports and rumors surrounding potential trade candidates. We already saw the Dennis Schroder trade, so the majority of the buzz will most likely be around players like Cam Johnson and yes of course, Jimmy Butler.

Most if not all the Jimmy Butler buzz is coming from Shams. He seems like he has made it his life's mission to get this trade to happen. A few weeks ago we had the back and forth with Butler's agent, Shams coming out and listing the teams Butler wants to be traded to, Bernie Lee calling it all bullshit and that Shams was a fraud. That of course led to Shams doubling down on TV calling it his most vetted story ever, and then things sort of died down for a few days.

But then came Christmas. All eyes are on the NBA, what does Adam Silver want? He wants eyeballs and he wants attention on his league. Does it surprise anyone that Shams had this tweet ready to go early Christmas morning?

I mean that headline and topic on the morning of NBA Christmas was an engagement cheatcode. No shit that was going to go super viral, which of course it did. There was really only one thing. If you actually clicked the story, you'd read that this was not Jimmy Butler demanding a trade

ESPN reported in the Inside Pass on Dec. 10 that the Heat are willing to listen to trade offers for Butler, and that Butler wants a win-now contender in any deal. Butler has not formally requested a trade, sources said, but is believed to be ready for his exit.

So, he hasn't demanded a trade and this really doesn't tell us anything new, but who gives a shit about that right? Nobody is clicking that story. They are just QT'ing it and going about their day. That's no accident.

Given it had been a few weeks since their last back and forth, I think most expected Butler's agent to once again come out swinging. Unfortunately, that didn't happen

Is he dodging the heat (no pun intended but intended) because Shams was right and his earlier outburst was the part that was actually full of shit? Or was this latest Shams drama created out of nothing and not even worth a response? Who's to say really?

What we do know is that all this heat (no pun intended but intended) around Butler and the team wasn't going away and that someone is lying. When it gets to the point of Pat Riley and the team formally addressing it, it makes you not sure what to believe

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Well, that settles that right? Jimmy Butler is not being traded. Surely Pat Riley would address the media and admit that they were in fact listening to offers and open to moving Butler. That's totally something NBA teams do. 

At the same time, I sort of believe him here. Perhaps they didn't get the value they were looking for on the open market and have decided to say fuck it, he's staying put. Seems like an odd choice if that same Pat Riley is also opting not to extend Butler, because now you're running the risk of him leaving the Heat for nothing if he turns down his player option this summer. That's not exactly the best way to go about managing a roster. 

It's not like this is the first time we've heard something like this from a team only to see them immediately trade that player anyway. Daryl Morey did the same shit to Chris Paul back on the Rockets. Things change fast in the NBA and there's a lot of basketball to be played between now and the deadline. Maybe a team gets desperate and overpays. Maybe the Heat struggle and would benefit from the asset reset. 

Part of me also thinks the team doesn't address this stuff unless there's some truth to it and the player needed public confirmation. It's not like Butler has a no-trade clause, he can't choose where he ultimately ends up. I think it's totally possible that Riley didn't love what any of the teams on his list were offering, and this is their way of saying they won't be trading him to basketball Syberia or something like that. You're telling me if the Warriors get desperate and offer an extreme overpay that the Heat would turn that down if their season is lost? All for an asset that can leave for nothing? That would be basketball malpractice.

If Butler really is off the market, that means the prices for guys like Zach LaVine and Cam Johnson are only going up. Maybe now it costs you an extra 2nd round pick or a different set of pick protections. What makes the Butler domino so interesting is not just what it means for the Heat, but what it means for then entire trade market. 

For now, according to Pat Riley that market doesn't include Jimmy Butler. Let's check back in a month.