Four-time Warriors champion Draymond Green has shared his candid thoughts about the Jimmy Butler situation in Miami.
In LeBron James fashion, Green says he saw the Butler and Heat coming from a mile away.
“I think they definitely are at the end of the rope,” Green said on The Draymond Green Show. “I’ve actually been hearing for the last couple years that they were kind of tired of Jimmy, Jimmy was kind of tired of them. I think Jimmy was kind of a little more so just enjoying living in Miami. I’m not one of those media people that make up stories. I’m not saying ‘enjoying living in Miami’ like Jimmy’s a partier, Jimmy don’t go out. So I’m not saying that, but living in Miami is a beautiful thing. And so I think he just more enjoy so his life and what comes with him being the face of the Miami Heat.
“Again, Jimmy’s a very serious guy, takes his craft very serious, works his ass off. So I don’t want this to come off the wrong way. I just think he had a good thing there where he’s going to the NBA Finals, he’s the man in Miami, and I think all of those things made what he was going through bearable. That’s what I’m trying to get at. And I think it’s just reached a point now where you’re like, ‘What do I have left, three more years, maybe? I’m going to live in Miami for the rest of my life after three years anyway.’ And so I think you start to get to that point, where I think Jimmy also — Jimmy’s as competitive as they come — wants to win a championship.”
Draymond went on to explain how he sees the saga playing out in two different ways.
“What I believe the outcome is going to be, everybody’s like ‘Jimmy’s going here, Jimmy’s going there’ … I think Pat Riley is Pat Riley, y’all have heard the stories of who Pat Riley is and how Pat Riley is, just like I have,” Green shared. “I can see two things happening: I can see Pat Riley sending Jimmy Butler to a team, an organization that he absolutely hates, that’s garbage. I can also see Pat Riley saying, ‘Hey, go home for the rest of the year. Just go home, we’ll pay you. It’s fine, go home. We’re not trading you anywhere.’ And I can see that scenario as well.
“But the scenario I don’t see, I don’t see just Jimmy back in good graces with them and Jimmy being who Jimmy is. I don’t see that, I think it’s too far past gone. When stuff starts getting to the media, when stuff starts getting public, it’s no longer in your control anyway. It’s completely taken over by public opinion, and it’s just hard to make it work. I think they’ve reached the end of the road.”