One of ESPN’s thoughtful analysts cites overlooked concern with Butler. And 76ers/Butler

The only on-court concern that Heat president Pat Riley expressed this week about Jimmy Butler — with regard to the team’s non-committal position about a Butler-requested contract extension — was the volume of games missed.

But there’s another concern that shouldn’t be glossed over, ESPN’s Tim Legler said this week.

“It’s not just the games that he misses,” Legler said on ‘Get Up.’ “There’s another 15, 20 games where it looks like he’s disinterested in playing offensively. So as a result, the Miami Heat are digging themselves out of the play-in situation. And this is what you end up with, playing the top seed.

“And this is what Pat Riley’s point is. It’s not just the missed games. Those are important. It’s the other nights where you watch him play and you’re kind of like, ‘Man, are you only interested in the postseason offensively to be an aggressive player?’ That’s where everybody is kind of scratching their head. And that’s the point where Pat Riley is right now with watching all of this. It gets old.”

In the 60 games that Butler played this season, Miami was 11-15 when he scored in single digits in the first half. Conversely, the Heat was 22-12 when he scored 10 or more in the first half.

When he begins the game with an aggressive offensive bent, the Heat typically has more success than when he doesn’t. But he sometimes doesn’t.

Riley focused only on the games missed; Butler has played in 52, 57, 64 and 60 in the four full 82-game seasons with the Heat.

Though Butler averaged 20.8 points per game this season, he failed to reach the 20 point mark in 8 of his final 12 games.

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted, “Butler was one of eight players to average 20 points on 40% on 3-pointers and 85% on free throws.”

But his field-goal percentage dropped from 54 percent to 50 percent this season, “largely due to his struggles at finishing near the rim. Per Second Spectrum, Butler shot 44 percent on drives this season (seventh worst in the NBA among players with at least 250 field-goal attempts) and 59 percent on layups and dunks. Last season, Butler shot 52 percent on drives and 63 percent on layups/dunks.”

Meanwhile, several ESPN analysts said Riley was on point to criticize Butler for saying that the Heat would have beaten the Celtics (and Knicks eventually) if he had been healthy enough to play.

“Fewer words have ever been spoken by an executive that I would agree with more,” Legler said. “And this has happened multiple times. I’ve always said, ‘Do not write checks with your mouth that your teammates have to cash’ if you’re not able to be out there helping contribute. [Riley is] 100 percent right; [Butler should] stay behind the scenes.

“If you’re not out there helping your team against the Boston Celtics, then you need to keep that to yourself. I am so glad [Riley] said it. I’m glad he addressed it. And he’s got the cache to be able to pull that off.”

To refresh, Riley said Monday: “If you’re not on the court, playing against Boston, or you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”

ESPN’s Jay Williams added that Riley is “accurate. Look, if Pat Riley was able to keep LeBron, D-Wade and everybody on that team in check, there’s nobody that Pat Riley feels is big enough that he can’t speak his mind on. He’s the Godfather of the NBA.”

THE 76ers OPTION

If Butler asks for a trade in the wake of the Heat’s unwillingness to immediately acquiesce to his request for a contract extension — or if the Heat decides on its own to trade him — Philadelphia could emerge as an option.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, at least twice in the past week, has warned viewers to keep an eye on the 76ers as a potential landing spot for Butler if they aren’t able to sign impending Clippers free agent Paul George into their $60 million in cap space.

From a Heat standpoint, there are two negatives but one potential positive in any trade that would send Butler to Philadelphia.

The negatives: 1). Miami would be strengthening an Eastern Conference rival. and 2). The Heat couldn’t get any players back from Philadelphia except backup center Paul Reid; Joel Embiid and Reid are the only experienced 76ers under contract for next season.

The positive: Because the 76ers have cap space to absorb Butler’s $48.8 million salary, Miami would not need to take equal salary — or close to equal salary — in return if a third team is involved, which would seem necessary.

Even if the 76ers offered their three available first-round picks and three first-round pick swaps, it seems unlikely that would entice Miami, which loathes the idea of trading All-Star-caliber players for draft picks. That trade nevertheless would be permitted under NBA cap rules.

But here’s how a Butler/Philadelphia trade could realistically work: If Miami and Philadelphia find a third team that covets those three 76ers first-round picks and would give the Heat a very good established player in return, as part of a three-team deal, with that third team pocketing the 76ers’ draft assets.

The trick would be finding such a team and a player.

76ers general manager Daryl Morey told reporters this week that his team’s biggest need is “someone at the wing who can play and deliver in the playoffs.” Butler is one of the NBA’s best playoff performers in recent years – unlike George.

George “had a lot of spots where he came up small in postseason spots, and that’s Philadelphia’s biggest issue,” Legler said. “They need somebody to help overcome that.

“Jimmy Butler will do that. Paul George hopefully is going to play more in the regular season [than Butler] and when he plays, he’s going to look the same every night, not like Jimmy Butler. But when it comes time where you’ve got to have him in an important time in a playoff series, that’s where Jimmy Butler’s track record speaks volumes. That’s why it becomes an interesting topic [whether Philadelphia should pursue Butler or George]. You just have to survive the regular season with [Butler].”

When Riley was asked if he would consider trading Butler if the Heat cannot acquire a very good player for its assets (excluding Butler and Bam Adebayo), Riley said: “No. Not right now.”