ASK IRA: Is this another Jimmy Butler story that won’t be written until the final Heat chapter?
Q: Ira, Jimmy Butler is going to continue to command a huge salary the next few years. Do the Heat continue to give that salary to a part-time player getting up in years? Would it be better to move Jimmy and see if they can get some younger players and use some of the money saved to keep some of the talent they are developing instead of losing them to others? It doesn’t look like they have much else to offer other teams to get back players to build up the team. Tyler Herro has probably lost more market value because of his numerous injuries and they don’t have much else to offer anyone. – Rich, Plantation.
A: Received a bunch of these in the wake of Jimmy Butler missing Tuesday night’s loss to the Warriors due to illness. So if you also chimed in, consider this your answer, as well. And the answer to all such Jimmy questions comes down to this, and only this: We have to wait to see how this book ends. If the final 2023-24 chapter is a deep playoff run, then nothing else matters, just as it didn’t last season, or even the season before. If Jimmy Butler makes at least the Eastern Conference finals for the fourth time in his five seasons with the Heat, then all else melts away. Likely? Well a run to last season’s NBA Finals arguably was even more unlikely.
Q: How do the tiebreakers look against the Pacers and Sixers or both if there is a three-way tie at the end of the season? – Joel, Fort Lauderdale.
A: The Heat are 2-1 against the 76ers with one game remaining and 1-1 against the Pacers with one game remaining. So in a three-team aggregate standings, that would have the Heat currently at 3-2, with the three-tie aggregate to break such a three-way tie. The Pacers are 2-1 against the 76ers, with that three-game series concluded. So that also has the Pacers at 3-2. Basically, the Heat-Pacers game on April 7 in Indiana will go a long way toward deciding tiebreakers. A long way.
Q: The Warriors outscored the Heat by 24 points when Jaime Jaquez Jr. was on the court. He no longer looks like the rookie phenom he once did. Is he just playing with less effort or is the grind of the long NBA season getting to him? – Milton, Coconut Grove.
A: The grind assuredly is a factor. But Jaime Jaquez Jr. also has the type of game that plays best when surrounded by quality, often particularly well with Jimmy Butler. What Monday showed is that he is not a leading man yet. Nor should that been expected at this stage. But don’t question the effort, that is relentless, few players of his limited experience working as hard off the ball.