Source ‘very much downplaying’ Ben Simmons to Miami possibility

When Sam Amick of The Athletic listed the Miami Heat as one of the top potential landing spots for Ben Simmons this morning, many Heat fans scratched their heads. Would the Heat include Jimmy Butler in the trade for Simmons, as Leonard Kreicas writes? I don’t see it.

Then there’s the (rumored) fractured relationship between Butler and Simmons to consider, assuming Miami would only trade Simmons if they can keep Butler and Adebayo. But even on a strict basketball level, it doesn’t make much sense.

Butler and Adebayo are non-shooters, so adding Simmons to the mix would shrink the floor even more than having Andre Iguodala on the floor with Butler and Adebayo does. (Yes, Butler was a passable 3-point shooter for several years, including when he played with Simmons for the Philadelphia 76ers. But for whatever reason, his long-range shot has cratered since joining Miami.)

A few hours later, Amick tweeted a follow-up story saying that “a source with knowledge of Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons landscape is very much downplaying the Miami possibility.”

This was always mucho ado about nothing. A team that uses three max contracts on Butler, Adebayo and Simmons isn’t a team that will contend for a title.