Arguably the biggest story flooding the NBA news stream these days is the feud going down between the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler. Butler no longer wants to be a member of the Heat, but Miami won't trade him for pennies on the dollar. They want a deal that helps them remain competitive during the Tyler Herro/Bam Adebayo era.
As we've mentioned multiple times on this website, the Sacramento Kings should be looking for a trade that helps them add more size and defense to their roster, making Butler, in theory, an ideal trade target.
So, why don't the Kings help the Heat with their Butler problems? Kevin Pelton of ESPN thought this idea was worth exploring, so he put together a mock trade proposal involving the two teams (and a surprise third team).
Now, without further ado, here is the mock trade (and our grades for each team involved).
Sacramento Kings
Let's start with the team this website is dedicated to covering. Adding Jimmy Butler makes the Kings a better team, but it doesn't solve all their issues. If Butler went to the Kings, their three best players (him, De'Aaron Fox, and Domantas Sabonis) would all be below average spacers.
On top of that, the team would be losing a lot of depth, trading three playoff-level rotation players for 1.5 (Alec Burks' defense makes it tricky for him to play big minutes in the playoffs). The Kings would also be parting with two draft assets to create a team that is not guaranteed to be a contender in the loaded Western Conference, and there is the possibility that Butler just walks in free agency to consider as well.
Grade: C+
Miami Heat
For the Heat, they are able to accomplish everything they want. They get off of Butler and avoid having to give him a contract that they don't want to hand out. They get a player in DeMar DeRozan who can help them stay competitive (and a nice rotational piece on an expiring contract in Tim Hardaway Jr.). And they get some draft capital in return for Butler.
The one downside is that, barring unforeseen circumstances, a core of Herro/DeRozan/Adebayo likely isn't good enough to compete for anything more than first round series victory followed by a swift second round exit.
Grade: A-
Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are able to add some draft capital without giving up much in return. The Pistons get a first round pick swap, and all they have to do is take on an expiring contract in Trey Lyles and a salvageable player in Kevin Huerter, who only has two more years left on his current deal. Even if Huerter can't be a productive player for the Pistons, he could be a good salary matcher in a trade down the road. They were also able to trade one of their expiring contracts (Hardaway).