Part of NBA offseason tradition consists of ESPN’s annual survey of 20 coaches, executives and scouts, where they cover a variety of topics including the free agency period that was and the future of the league after the incredible upheaval that took place. Among the topics that were covered was the blockbuster trade that brought Jimmy Butler from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Miami Heat, but the execs didn’t like that deal so much from the Heat perspective as they did the Sixers.
Butler had the Sixers over a barrel this summer. The Sixers weren’t interested in paying him his max, he wasn’t willing to play in Philadelphia for less and wanted to go to Miami anyway, so they were able to facilitate a deal that sent him where he wanted to go, got a young talented player in the form of Josh Richardson in return and were able to do this at a significant discount.