Miami Heat: Jimmy Butler gives the franchise a face

After years spent without much of a direction, the Miami Heat found themselves a star in Jimmy Butler to lead them into a new era of South Beach basketball.

The Miami Heat got to experience one of the greatest basketball highs of the decade in winning back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. Back then, they were led by a trio of stars in LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. It was a super-team of the highest order, one that ran the league for the better part of its four-year tenure.

Since then, the climb back to the mountaintop hasn’t been so easy. LeBron returned home. Bosh was forced to retire. Once Wade left in the summer of 2016, it left a hole in the roster the size of a leader, the likes of which were never filled.

Miami was always viewed as a tough out with talent sprinkled across the board, but no one player to stand above and lead them all. The results were three mediocre years with no more than 44 wins in any given season and just one playoff appearance that ended in the opening round.

Pat Riley has never been one to wait for things to fall into his lap. For better or worse, he does his best to go out and field a competitive roster, just as he did with the Big 3 back in 2010. Having acquired Jimmy Butler in a four-team trade, Riley was at it again, providing Miami with the direction it so desperately needed.

Butler may rest a notch below the true cream of the superstar crop, but he’s still widely regarded as one of the best two-way players in the game today. He spent the majority of this past season with the Philadelphia 76ers following a late-November trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

His 18.2 points a night across 55 games in Philly were the lowest since his third season in the league, but that went hand in hand with his fourth-lowest shot attempts per game as well. With more of a lead role offensively, there’s no reason to suggest his scoring average can’t cross the 20-point threshold as it did in four consecutive seasons.

The Heat ranked just 28th in the league in crunch-time scoring last season. There are certainly benefits to a more balanced attack, but every team needs a capable closer. Dion Waiters may think it’s his job, but Butler has a far better track record in the final seconds, which is sure to do wonders for Miami’s late-game offense.

Even prior to the era dominated by super-teams, franchises needed top-level talent to compete at a high level. Butler doesn’t solve all those problems for Miami, but he’s a starting point to build off of moving forward.

Before Jimmy arrived in South Beach, the Heat were simply making things up as they went along, having attached themselves to a core without much of an identity. Eight players averaged double figures last season, while 12 were given more than 20 minutes of nightly action. Riley had no incentive to make changes because there was no way to know who was worth keeping.

There was no endgame in sight. With Butler in town, that won’t be the case. Every future decision from the organization will now be geared towards maximizing the four-time All-Star’s talent at both ends. That could lead to quite the roster shakeup over the next couple of years, but it would put the Heat closer to contention than they’ve been over the last few seasons.

Don’t get it twisted; Jimmy Buckets’ presence in Miami doesn’t suddenly vault it into the realm of championship contenders. His leadership methods are questionable and he has yet to make it out of the second round of the playoffs despite taking the reins of just about every team he’s been a part of.

Whatever baggage may come along with Butler are aspects the Heat just don’t care about at this point in time. They’ve spent the better part of the last three years wandering around aimlessly with the NBA equivalent of throwing whatever ingredients were available together and calling it a soup.

The ceiling may be low, but the objective is now clear. Butler is the face of this proud franchise who will lead them into whatever lies ahead. For a team that couldn’t say as much about any player in recent memory, it’s as good a place as there is to start working its way back up to the top of a familiar mountain.