The departure of P.J. Tucker for the Philadelphia 76ers left a huge void on the Miami Heat’s power forward slate moving into this upcoming season. As such, speculations have swirled if franchise star swingman Jimmy Butler can take the challenging assignment.
“If they absolutely wanted to have a conversation,” Butler answered upon being asked if he is willing enough to play as a power forward in the new season (h/t South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman). “But I’m not going to play the four.”
But Butler followed up his initial response with clarification – that he is willing to go and slide at the four if it is “needed” by his Miami team.
“I could play the four, yes, if they absolutely needed me to play the four, yes,” Butler said.
Miami has several bodies which can be elected to be inserted in the power role. The likes of Caleb Martin, Caleb Highsmith, and rookie Nikola Jovic are there. Also, there may be wildcards for the said position coming from the center spot, with Dewayne Dedmon, Omer Yurtseven, and the ‘Culture’ bossman Udonis Haslem ready to be called up.
As such, Butler believes that modifications can still be made, with his teammates aware and prepared to adjust for potential unexpected roles.
“There are going to be changes,” he said. “Everybody realizes roles are going to change. There are going to be a lot of changes that have nothing to do with me.
“As training camp comes along, it’s going to be exciting to see what this lineup is about.”
