The Boston Celtics had the chance to sign Jimmy Butler before he would move to the Miami Heat later in his career.
Friday night saw the Celtics lose 111-105 to the Heat in Game Two of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals. That loss means that Joe Mazzulla’s side now trail 2-0 in the series going into Game Three on Sunday evening.
Butler was one of the stars for the Heat in the win over the Celtics. He scored 27 points with eight rebounds and six assists, and was only outscored by Celtics forward Jayson Tatum who got 34 points in a losing cause.
After the opening two games of the series, Butler now has 62 points and is comfortably the Heat’s top scorer. The 33-year-old is looking to help guide his team to the NBA Finals which begin next month.
However, had things gone differently back in 2016, Butler could have been turning out for the Celtics roster rather than Miami. This comes from a report from Chicago Tribune , which was published after the conclusion of the 2015/16 season.
Butler was drafted by the Bulls in 2011 in the first round with the 30th-overall pick. However, by the time the 2016 NBA Draft came around there was speculation that he could leave Chicago.
In that edition of the draft, the Celtics had the number three overall pick. The report claims that there were discussions between the Celtics and the Bulls over the possibility of a trade involving Butler for the pick.
It’s been claimed that several discussions were made between the Celtics and the Bulls, with a further option being a trade involving Jae Crowder heading to Boston in exchange for their third and 16th-overall picks.
However, none of the discussions proved to be fruitful in the end, with neither offerings and a constant changing of terms said to be to the Bulls’ liking. It’s also been stated that, had the trade been completed, the Bulls would have selected guard Kris Dunn from Providence.
In the end, the Celtics picked Jaylen Brown with the third overall pick in the 2016 draft and Butler remained with the Bulls. That was the case until 2017, when he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Butler would have just one season in Minnesota before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. It was a similar story, as he was eventually traded to the Heat in 2019 and has remained in Florida to become the face of the franchise in the Sunshine state.
The Heat need to win two more games to reach the NBA Finals next month. Should that happen, they would face the winners of the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets are also leading that series 2-0 after the first two games.
