Oh, how the heart yearns for a deal pairing Jimmy Butler with James Harden in Houston!
Two alpha dogs. Two players with major diva tendencies. Two guys with very definite and very different ideas about how to play the game of basketball. There’s either a peer-reviewed psychological study or a police report for felonious assault waiting to be written here.
Please, please, please, Rockets and 76ers executives, make this happen. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets are hoping that Butler forces his team, the 76ers, into a sign-and-trade deal that would send him to Houston. Butler becomes a free agent Sunday evening, and he can bolt Philadelphia if he doesn’t like the money the 76ers are offering — or if he doesn’t like the 76ers, period. Getting nothing for Butler would be a very bad look for Philadelphia.
Butler reportedly is very interested in playing for the Heat. Say it ain’t so, Jimmy!
The dream scenario is that former Bull Butler forces a sign-and-trade, gets his four-year, $140 million contract and joins Harden in Houston for a venture destined for failure.
How long before Butler tires of Harden’s robber-baron ball-hogging, shoot-and-flop theatrics and defensive indifference?
How long before Harden bristles at Butler’s I’m-the only-real-man-here attitude, his enchantment with all things Hollywood and his insistence on playing lockdown defense?
I put the over/under at 20 games into the season.
Wait! I forgot to plug Rockets point guard Chris Paul, another massive ego guy, into the equation! Put this trio together, and it’ll be operatic: The Three Untenables, on tour. Yahoo Sports reported earlier this month that the relationship between Harden and Paul is “unsalvageable,’’ with Paul demanding a trade and Harden giving the team a him-or-me ultimatum. The Rockets denied the report, and Paul tweeted that all of this was news to him. But whenever there’s smoke in the NBA, there’s usually a tire fire nearby.
Whatever happened between Harden and Paul will look like the undercard if Butler teams up with Harden. That’s unless I have this wrong and Butler absolutely loves a guy who takes a league-high 24.5 of his team’s 87.4 field-goal attempts a game. I don’t think I do.
The Rockets and their fans say the only way for the team to win is for Harden to play the style that he does, which involves the ball being in his hands almost all the time. He either shoots a three-pointer, drives to the basket or passes to an open man. Defense is like a sunroof to him: optional.
However Harden came to play basketball as if it were a one-on-five undertaking, it’s what he is now. It’s who he is. His game and his beard are his brands. He has made tons of money from it, and the Rockets have won a lot of games. One problem: Harden and the Rockets haven’t made the NBA Finals together. The idea is that Butler’s arrival would change that unfortunate detail.
Harden might be the best in the NBA at creating his own shot. He’s amazing that way. But if the concept is team and the goal is a championship, it’s like watching someone shadow box. Adding Butler would be a disturbance to that world. It’s almost impossible to imagine a player who was brought up in the NBA by iron-fisted Tom Thibodeau standing by while someone monopolizes the ball and doesn’t play defense.
And it’s hard to imagine Harden changing his game for anyone. It’d be like imagining him smooth-faced.
Butler has morphed into someone who seems to live for drama. After demanding a trade from the Timberwolves before the 2018-19 season, he went on a verbal tirade against teammates, coaches and front-office executives during a practice. That included him yelling at general manager Scott Layden, “You f------ need me! You can’t win without me!’’ Lots of people around the league were surprised by the outburst. Chicago was not.
Hours later, he sat down for an interview with ESPN’s “The Jump’’ to talk about his diatribe. Also not surprising.
The Clippers reportedly are on Butler’s radar, too, as long as they are on Kawhi Leonard’s radar, too. Butler paired with the solemn Leonard, who thinks drama is trying to decide what to eat for breakfast? Boooooooooooring.
When NBA free agency begins Sunday evening, Butler will be a very popular target. He’ll make any team better with his talent and drive. But for optimum entertainment value, Houston is the only destination.
So, yes, by all means, make this happen. For the love of all that is good about telenovelas and running mascara, please, Rockets and 76ers, make this happen.
Butler and Harden together but -- eventually, inevitably -- far apart.
