NBA: Ranking every team’s best player in 2019-20

Few players in the league work harder than Jimmy Butler, who has exceeded expectations throughout his life to not only make the league but become an All-Star. He joins a team in the Miami Heat that expects their players to work harder than anyone else in the league. This looks like the perfect marriage.

With the retirement of Dwyane Wade, this team lacked a player who would step up in high-pressure moments and take the big shots. Last year Wade probably should have passed the torch, but the only options were reluctant youngsters or brashly inefficient Dion Waiters. In Butler this chapter of the Heat have their leader and their closer.

Miami will be hoping their culture keeps Butler engaged and on task, as he seemed to be in Philadelphia for most of last season. His painful and messy exits from Minnesota and Chicago show what happens when Butler gets disillusioned with his current team; if the Heat have a rough start or disappointing season Butler has to show he can stick with a team during the hard parts.

He suffers in these rankings ever-so-slightly because of it.

Looking ahead: The Heat traded their star-in-waiting, Josh Richardson, in order to bring in Butler. First-round pick Tyler Herro looks like a great fit for the Heat, but he is not on track to be a star; Justise Winslow is unlikely to realize that potential either. Bam Adebayo may be this team’s second-best player by season’s end (he might be now).

None of them will likely ever reach Butler’s level; this is his team now, until or unless he forces himself out of town.