Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Dwyane Wade and Mychal Thompson address Heat business

Jimmy Butler’s playoff ride with the Warriors was cut short because they came across a superior team, and Stephen Curry hurt his hamstring, only playing 13 minutes of the series versus Minnesota. Butler’s pelvis contusion was a factor, but he still had big-time outings after and too many moments of looking to pass first, second and third. Sometimes the right play is making it for yourself, especially when two of the weapons are Draymond Green and Brandon Podziemski.

Dwyane Wade added credibility to his criticisms of Butler as his 2006 Finals MVP trophy rested on his torso as he sat for an episode of his podcast. He said Butler took his foot off the gas, which put more pressure on Jonathan Kuminga after securing a two-year, $121 million extension. Wade also said it was reminiscent of Butler not looking at the basket in the 2023 Finals against Denver.

Butler attempted a sparse nine and 11 attempts in the Warriors’ Games 4 and 5 losses as Julius Randle plus Anthony Edwards took over the series.

Twice champion under Pat Riley’s coaching with the Lakers, Mychal Thompson said on May 5 that the Heat president made the right choice in trading Butler. He said, “You’re always going to lose that battle if you’re gonna go head-to-head against Pat Riley, so they did the right thing. If you’re not going to go along with the Miami culture, or program, or Riley’s rules, you gotta go. Jerry West told me that…”  

Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, playfully wrote on his X(formerly Twitter) account that Wade’s podcast can kick rocks and that his client’s playoffs started on Feb. 1, which he’s correct about. The Warriors’ record was 24-24 that day and the margin for error was slim as four other teams were in a race with them for the four play-in spots. Butler added a dimension as a playmaker that Andrew Wiggins couldn’t give them and got to the line more, putting more pressure on opposing defenses. Curry also raised his production as a result of the pairing.

They’ll need to get lucky with health next season to have a chance. Yet consider this: no team has won a title with its top three players being 35 and 37 years old. It’s too hard to do what the 2011 Mavericks did: winning with the top guys being 33 and 38. Furthermore, if Kuminga is kept around, they’ll need him to be the third scorer consistently and more of a defensive presence because the team lacks high-level athleticism.

As for the Heat, it will be a while until they are as good as they were with Butler again. They likely can’t make real improvements without doing something bold, like trading Tyler Herro or Bam Adebayo.