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Should Miami Heat Worry About Possibility Of Jimmy Butler Wanting To Team Up With Joel Embiid Again?

Shandel Richardson|
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Butler and Joel Embiid almost worked the first time they teamed together.

Could a reunion be on the horizon?

They were last teammates in the 2018-19 season when they were a Kawhi Leonard missed jumper at the buzzer from advancing to the Eastern Conference finals. Butler was traded to the Miami Heat in the offseason but now there is chance for a second opportunity.

After the Heat's first-round exit in the Eastern Conference playoffs, Butler's status remains up in the air after it was reported he wants a two-year max extension this summer. The Heat have yet to commit, so the next month will be interesting.

The Sixers are among the teams willing to appease Butler. They are reportedly are prepared to make an offer this summer. Butler played one season in Philly before the trade but former NBA player Gilbert Arenas recently said on his podcast it would make a great fit.

“How many top free agents actually went to Philly? They need one man…and that’s Jimmy Butler…Because he didn’t want to leave…It was the coach that didn’t want him.”

“How many top free agents actually went to Philly? They need one man and that’s Jimmy Butler," Arenas said. "Because he didn’t want to leave. Him and Embiid, it was the coach that didn't want him back."

“How many top free agents actually went to Philly? They need one man…and that’s Jimmy Butler…Because he didn’t want to leave…It was the coach that didn’t want him.”

The Sixers are no longer coached by Brett Butler, who Butler feuded with. They are now led by Nick Nurse, a former Coach of the Year who won a title with the Raptors in 2019.
The Sixers also expect a healthy Embiid after he missed most of last season with knee problems.

So anything is possible ...

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here