MIAMI _ The Miami Heat could find themselves back on the clock _ if they still want to be on the clock _ when it comes to the Minnesota Timberwolves' efforts to trade Jimmy Butler.
With ESPN reporting an offer of four first-round picks from the Houston Rockets for the disgruntled guard, there still would be the need for enough matching salary from Houston to facilitate such a transaction.
The window for such a move therefore could open Wednesday, when the Rockets become eligible to package the contract of sidelined guard Brandon Knight in a trade. Knight was dealt by the Phoenix Suns to the Rockets on Aug. 31, with teams forced to wait two months before then repackaging a player in a trade.
The Heat are not in position to match the Rockets' offer of first-round picks in 2019, '21, '23 and '25 because their 2021 pick now belongs to the Philadelphia 76ers. That pick initially was sent to the Suns at the 2015 NBA trading deadline as part of a package for guard Goran Dragic.
Under NBA rules, teams cannot trade successive future first-round picks, putting the Heat's 2020 and '22 first-round picks off limits, other than the Heat being able to include them for the right to swap first-round draft position.
Heat President Pat Riley twice has acknowledged previous discussions with the Timberwolves, first when he refuted an ESPN Radio report about cursing at Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau during negotiations and later to announce last week, through a team spokesman, that the Heat were "pulling the plug" on the negotiations.
The Heat's most recent offer to the Timberwolves widely has been reported as Josh Richardson, Kelly Olynyk and a protected version of their 2019 first-round draft pick.
While future first-round Heat picks likely would be more valuable to the Timberwolves than selections from a Rockets team that then would be going forward with James Harden, Chris Paul and Butler, the risk for a team acquiring Butler while taking the long view toward contention is that Butler can become a free agent next summer.
Several Heat players have acknowledged the early discussions with the Timberwolves was a distraction, but there has been little talk among players since Riley's statement last week prior to the team's victory over the Washington Wizards.
