Tag: Marbury

Michael Reaves. Getty Images.

With the NBA trade deadline quickly approaching (Feb 6th), it’s only a matter of time before we finally have a resolution one way or another to the Jimmy Butler saga. Deadlines spur action, so my guess is Shams already has the tweet written in his drafts and is just waiting on the confirmation before he sits sent on the tweet.

As outsiders, all we can do is look at this situation through what’s being leaked to us from the team side and the player side. That can be tricky of course because when that happens you need to remember that you’re basically being given propaganda. The team is going to do what they can to make Jimmy look bad, and in return, Jimmy’s camp is going to do the same thing about Pat Riley and the franchise. It’s all an attempt to put pressure on one another while also winning the battle in the court of public opinion.

It’s all posturing and agenda-pushing, much like it is with all of these types of trade demands. Remember the James Harden saga? Or the Ben Simmons saga? Or the Dame saga? There’s a reason these breakups are almost always nasty.

That’s why I found Carmelo Anthony’s perspective on this situation pretty interesting. For all the annoying former player podcasts that may be out there that do nothing but say stupid shit in hopes of going viral, that’s never really been the case with Melo’s. In fact, I’d argue it’s actually one of the best listens we have if you’re looking for a player perspective. If there’s anyone who is qualified to weigh in on Bulter’s situation and all the different aspects that go along with it, it’s probably Melo. He’s a guy who has been there before, and while he didn’t exactly burn everything to the ground like Jimmy Butler tends to do, he did find himself in similar situations throughout this career

 Is it a coincidence that we’re now also getting leaks that Steph/Kerr don’t love the idea of adding Jimmy Butler to that team and that locker room? They are a team that desperately needs help for Steph, and even they are like “ehhhhhhhhh we’re OK”. To me, that’s partially what Melo is talking about. The way he’s acting, teams aren’t going to give a shit about the basketball side, which also has it’s own set of issues as he continues to age. At some point organizations are going to collectively decide you are not worth the trouble.

His point about being “Marbury’d” should not be overlooked. We’ve seen how the league operates in cases like this. Teams simply remove you from the equation and exile you to overseas basketball. It wasn’t a situation where Marbury wasn’t an effective basketball player, it was everything else that came with it to where teams got to the point where they weren’t willing to put up with the bullshit.

You can start to feel that happening with Butler. The Heat are telling him to stay away, other teams that could probably use his skillset are reluctant to bring him in. Given his age and price, who knows what the future looks like for Jimmy Butler after he picks up his final player option? Unless whoever trades for him immediately gives him an extension, is it so crazy to think that few teams if any will be blowing up his phone after his player option season next year? I don’t think you can rule out a scenario where this tweet becomes a reality

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In the end, I still think the Heat find a partner in these next few days. Despite all the drama and the bullshit that comes with bringing Jimmy Butler in, when guys want to be traded, they tend to be traded no matter how much they tank their value. James Harden got fat as shit and flat out quit during games and he got what he wanted. Ben Simmons simply refused to play altogether, and he got what he wanted. 

But if I were Jimmy Butler, I’d probably listen to Melo on this one. He’s been there before, he’s gone through it, and honestly, he gave probably the best take on this entire situation. Sort of reminds me of another issue Melo was right on the nose about