{"id":15201,"date":"2024-12-28T03:55:15","date_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15201"},"modified":"2024-12-28T03:55:15","modified_gmt":"2024-12-28T03:55:15","slug":"breaking-heat-eye-18-5-million-wing-as-jimmy-butler-prefers-trade-out-of-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15201","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Heat Eye $18.5 Million Wing As Jimmy Butler \u2018Prefers Trade out of Miami\u2019.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2190586058-e1735255467312.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2190586058-e1735255467312.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2190586058-e1735255467312.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/GettyImages-2190586058-e1735255467312.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Jimmy Butler, Heat\" width=\"780\" height=\"440\" data-img-load-time=\"776\" data-dom-ready-time=\"778\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat warms up prior to facing the Phoenix Suns.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The\u00a0Miami Heat\u00a0are interested in\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies\u2018 underutilized wing\u00a0John Konchar, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, amid tension between them and their franchise star\u00a0Jimmy Butler.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Nets, league sources say, are likewise interested in Memphis\u2019 John Konchar, who has also attracted interest from Orlando and Miami and is emerging as a name that must be monitored as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches,\u201d\u00a0Stein wrote on \u201cThe Stein Line\u201d on December 26.\u00a0\u201cKonchar is in Year 1 of a three-year, $18.5 million contract with Memphis and is perceived as available.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Konchar plays the same position as Butler and is seven years younger. The Grizzlies wing is also way cheaper than Butler, who is seeking a $110 million, two-year extension that will run through until he\u2019s 37.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Is John Konchar a Poor Man\u2019s Jimmy Butler?<\/h2>\n<p>Butler, however, is head and shoulders above Konchar and is a proven playoff performer. But Konchar, who has a 6-foot-8 wingspan, is the better defender in all advanced defensive metrics,\u00a0per Crafted NBA, except for versatility and relative personal fouls.<\/p>\n<p>Butler is the stronger defender, with the physical tools to bang bodies with frontcourt players, while Konchar can only defend one through three spots.<\/p>\n<p>But if Butler leaves Miami,\u00a0Jaime Jaquez Jr.\u00a0is the best bet to slide to the starting lineup, with Konchar as his possible backup if the Heat successfully trades for the Grizzlies\u2019 reserve wing. That is unless they send Butler to the Golden State Warriors, where they could get\u00a0Andrew Wiggins\u00a0and\u00a0Jonathan Kuminga\u00a0in return.<\/p>\n<p>The 28-year-old Konchar is averaging a career-low 2.5 points with 2.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 12.1 minutes off the bench, his second-lowest playing time since his rookie year. He is another undrafted wing whom they identified could grow under their strong player development program.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Pat Riley Stands Pat<\/h2>\n<p>Heat president Pat Riley attempted to end the Butler trade noise with a strong statement on December 26, a few hours before Stein reported their interest in Konchar.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe usually don\u2019t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear \u2013 We are not trading Jimmy Butler,\u201d\u00a0Riley wrote in a statement on December 26.<\/p>\n<p>The Butler trade rumors ramped up on Christmas when he didn\u2019t attend Riley\u2019s annual party for the team at his house,\u00a0per The Miami Herald, which coincided with\u00a0ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania reporting\u00a0that the six-time NBA All-Star \u201cprefers trade out of Miami\u201d ahead of the February 6 trade deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Charania doubled down on his latest report on the developing situation in Miami involving Butler on the \u201cNBA Countdown,\u201d citing things began to unravel in the offseason when the Heat did not offer their franchise a star contract extension.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey bypassed that did not extend him, and they lean more into their young, rising core \u2014\u00a0Bam Adebayo, an All-Star, and\u00a0Tyler Herro,\u201d\u00a0Charania said. \u201cAnd over the last three years, Jimmy Butler has wanted the Heat to go get him some help in that roster. They just have not been able to land that player. They\u2019ve gone after\u00a0Kevin Durant,\u00a0Damian Lillard\u00a0and\u00a0Kyrie Irving. They have not been able to land that next big fish with Jimmy Butler. The writing, in a lot of ways, is on the wall for the Heat and for Jimmy Butler.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat warms up prior to facing the Phoenix Suns. The\u00a0Miami Heat\u00a0are interested in\u00a0Memphis Grizzlies\u2018 underutilized wing\u00a0John Konchar, according to NBA insider&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15202,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Heat Eye $18.5 Million Wing As Jimmy Butler \u2018Prefers Trade out of Miami\u2019.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=15201\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Heat Eye $18.5 Million Wing As Jimmy Butler \u2018Prefers Trade out of Miami\u2019.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat warms up prior to facing the Phoenix Suns. 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