Miami Heat: 3 players facing most pressure in 2019-20

1. Jimmy Butler

The primary piece added in the offseason is unequivocally going to be faced with the most pressure. Four-time All-Star Jimmy Butler joined Miami via a sign and trade with the Philadelphia 76ers on the first night of free agency. The Heat were able to get a deal done despite being over the salary cap and now boast one of the games best two-way options.

It should be noted, though, that Butler is coming off his worst season over the last five years. He missed the All-Star game and put up some of the lowest averages since becoming an All-Star. Still, Butler proved his worth in the playoffs, as he was Philadelphia’s best player in their second-round series vs. the Toronto Raptors.

Butler will be the Heat player facing the most pressure. He will be scrutinized not just by Miami fans and media, but fans and media from around the entire league. His desire to win that wasn’t satisfied with the Minnesota Timberwolves was seemingly met in Philadelphia. Still, he decided he wanted to play for the Heat — a worse team than the Sixers — anyway.

After an ugly end to his stint with the Wolves, Butler was traded to the Sixers last November. Butler was the team’s rock in the playoffs as Joel Embiid dealt with injury. The Sixers lost to the eventual champion Raptors in a seven-game series that ended with the basketball equivalent of a Hail Mary. With the reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard leaving Toronto, the Sixers were one of the favorites to win the conference if they ran it back with the same squad.

But while Tobias Harris re-signed with the Sixers, Butler sought to join Miami. A 4-team trade sent Hassan Whiteside and Josh Richardson out of town and brought in Butler and Meyers Leonard.

This came across as a strange decision by Butler, as his desire to win was seemingly fulfilled by being traded to the title-contending Sixers. Lacking teammates with competitive fires as big as his left Butler unhappy in Minnesota and led to him causing drama worthy of an Emmy Award. With the Sixers, Butler had two All-Stars in Embiid and Ben Simmons at his side that play hard on both ends of the floor and led the Sixers to the second round the previous year.

Yet, Butler opted to join Miami, who haven’t reached 50 wins since 2014. Meanwhile, the Sixers have reached that mark the past two seasons. This decision has left us with more questions than answers. The most logical reason why Butler joined Miami is so he could be the clear face of a winning team, which wouldn’t have happened in Philadelphia as Embiid and Simmons would have taken some attention from him.

The pressure is on Butler to lead the Heat into the playoffs. He won’t necessarily have to return to his Chicago Bulls form to do so, but he should be Miami’s best player. The front office tried to acquire him in the summer of 2018 from Minnesota but now have him just a year later.  “Any time you can add a four-time All-Star to your roster, you make that move,” said Pat Riley about the acquisition of Butler. Now, it’s up to Butler to prove his worth to the Heat.