Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's crazy because once the calendar flips to twenty twenty
five in the NBA season, you're on the clock if
you are an NBA team looking to improve yourself at
the trade deadline. And there are names that are bandied
about every single year, and some of them get thrown
out there sooner than others. But one that is floating around,
(00:20):
and I just want to put it on the record
is I have zero desire to see rafel Stone and
the Rockets go after this guy is Jimmy Butler. Now,
if this were the summer of twenty nineteen, which is
when I believe he landed with the Heat and flirted
very very aggressively with the Houston Rockets during that offseason,
(00:43):
that might be, you know, different, But that's now six
years ago, coming up this summer. Crazy to think how
fast that's gone by. He's thirty five. Whether you want
to dress it up or however you want to put it,
he's been a problem at best every stop. Safe to
(01:04):
say that, you don't want to say malcontent, you don't
want to say locker room cats are fine, But there
at some point in time everywhere he's gone, it's gone bad,
it's gone rogue, and this is the latest stop.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
You can use all those terms because they don't mean
the same thing.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Yeah, I mean, I don't think that he like tries
to go in and become that, but it's how it
ultimately ends. There's always a bad breakup and he's in
the middle of I don't know if it's the nastiest,
but I don't want to get into a staring match
with pat Riley, who at one point in time, and
Charles Barkley, speaking of which brought this up last night
as well, he let Dwayne Wade go over the same
(01:39):
exact issue. He's not going to give him more money
when he's got a fifty five million dollar player option
and he's thirty five years old. He's declining. That's why
he's mad to begin with, Because he's declining. Eric Spulster's like,
I'm not playing you as many minutes. You're not gonna
be as big of a role on this team, and
so he wants out. And I've seen people say, oh,
(02:01):
Rockets should go get Jimmy Butler. Why a rental that's
going to cost you assets, either in the form of
draft picks, young players are both for a guy who
you don't know he's going to resign here, and even
if he does, you're getting the last remnants of a
career where his best years are in the rearview.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Mayor Yeah, you got to figure out what to do
with the other twenty plus regular season games, and he's
not there. For also hadn't played more than sixty games
in a season since before he got to the Miami Heat,
just one time sixty four games a couple of years ago.
This all comes to a head today for like the
tenth time, because the last couple of days, whether it
was postgame or following a practice this case, who was
(02:38):
following a game, he was pretty clear. I think I
think we don't have to read between the lines here
with what Jimmy Butler had to say. What did Jimmy
Butler have to say? And why are we sure now
one hundred percent sure that he's not going to be
a Miami Heat for too much longer?
Speaker 3 (02:55):
What do I want to see happy? I want to
see him get my joy back from playing basketball. And
wherever that may be, we'll we'll find out here pretty soon.
But I want to get my joy back. I'm happy here,
you know, off the court, but I want to be
back to somewhere dominant. I want to hoop and I
(03:16):
want to help this team win. Right now, I'm not
doing it. Can you get your joy back here on
the court? Probably not.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I'm just I mean, you know, this is very It
has a lot of shades of James Harden on his
way out the door. The huge difference is how much
is left in the tank for Jimmy Butler versus how
much was left for James Harden when he forced his
way in his fat suit out of Houston.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Here one other huge difference, because it's very similar, because
this is what stars do when they're not winning and
they want money. That won't just move me on to
somebody else who will give me wonder both of those things.
The other difference is, I don't mean Harden's discussed with
where the franchise was. I suppose at that point in time,
and that they couldn't win at that point in time
was squarely on his own shoulders. You know, Jimmy Butler's
(04:02):
contract has a little bit to do with it, but
he's not running the heat like James Harden was running
the rockets. He wasn't in cahoots with the GM who
would just do whatever he wanted, basically, and that's why
the team ended up where they were. In Butler's case,
he's looking at a roster that's looked remarkably similar year
after year after year. They have three really good players.
(04:24):
One's a star in Butler, one's a borderline star an
All Star in bam Adebayo, and one is machine gun Kelly,
but the rest of their roster isn't really helping them
in any way season after season after season now, So
he's looking at the guy who's butting heads with and saying,
what do you want me to do? They're already lessening
my usage, lessening my role, even though my numbers are
(04:47):
actually at least as good, if not better than in
other seasons. It's true, shooting percentages on all time high,
the best of his entire career. So I'm not sure
how far off people think he's fall when he's just
not being used in the same way. And maybe that's
to help him reach those numbers, because if he's used
in that way, maybe the numbers go back down. But
(05:08):
he was pretty clear, I want to get my joy back.
It's no fun playing basketball for the Miami Heat under
coach Bolstrow with these teammates with pat Riley running the team.
I'm putting words in his mouth because that's what he said. Well,
can you get your joy back? No, not here? So
he wants to play somewhere else, And now the reports
are even indicating that in a way that says I'd
(05:29):
rather play anywhere else.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yeah, it's not preferred destinations. And by the way, nobody
can have joy playing basketball with Tyler Hero.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
If you're winning, it's very fun. And I don't. Again,
I'm really confused on where he thinks they are. Like,
you're in the East, dude, what couldn't you be third?
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Fourth?
Speaker 2 (05:49):
I mean maybe that doesn't matter because you're not as
good as Cleveland or Boston. So what difference does make
you if you're eighth or first or eight or fourth?
But where are you going? That is, you're the reason
you're now are a top five team? Where's he going nowhere?
I mean, well, unless he goes to a top five team.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
And then he's what making sure that they don't fall
out of that standing.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Oh maybe that's what he would bring him joy. It's
not what he said. What he said is I want
to help my team win. He doesn't think he can
help this team win. He doesn't think they're good enough.
That's pretty much what he said, and that is clearly
a huge similarity to Harden, maybe a different spot in
the standings. That's literally what he said. It's just not
going to work here. You know, I can't make this
team win. We don't have good enough players anymore. Because
(06:33):
the players that we did have that we were good with,
I've helped run out of town, just make terrible trades
for Yeah, Jimmy didn't necessarily do that again because his
pat was convicted in his own desires of how to
build a team. But the team he's built is a
second tier non championship contender in the NBA, but obviously
even in the East. Just under I am with you, though,
(06:54):
just to make my side clear, there are stars of it.
We had to talk about this last week and earlier
this week, and we mentioned three prominent names. One's probably
not available Anthony Edwards. One's not yet giving a time
because Devin Booker's owner is definitely not ready to blow
it up yet it's his first year fully as the
(07:15):
owner of the team, give it time. And Jimmy Butler's
name just doesn't He just doesn't belong with that group.
I don't think he's bad, but I don't I don't
want him here.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
I don't think he does what you think. He can do,
what he once did, and he's been His last two
postseasons were awesome. I'm sure he can have another one.
I just don't think it's here.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
Well, that's the thing, though, it's not even about him
so much as the cost and for what you're talking
about again.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
What he trade for me, and he doesn't recapture his joy, well,
then when his contract is over, so is his time here.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, and you're not going to recapture what you sent
out the door to get him. And that's the biggest
part of this. I'm I don't care about Jimmy Butler.
I don't care about any of the other guys either
until they become Rockets, because I care about the Rockets
and what it's going to cost them and anything that
you're gonna be sending out, either draft picks or young
talent or any combination of that, or contracts, if you
(08:10):
want to put it that way, you better be getting
something that is not only going to make your team better,
as you mentioned, but is also going to you know
it's going to work, and I Jimmy Butler checks no
boxes when it comes to that. So for those of
you who want Jimmy Butler, I would strongly advise against
that for all the reason which we mentioned, and probably
(08:31):
some more