Dwyane Wade Says Jimmy Butler's Exit Left Miami Heat 'Exposed'

“When I heard Tyler Herro say, ‘we will not get swept’, I was like, y’all are already swept,” Wade joked. “I have to talk to my brother Bam, my little brother. We sat right in here when UD was here, and we got on FaceTime with Bam. And Bam said he wants that smoke. And I sat right back on that FaceTime and was like, you don’t want that Cleveland smoke dawg. ‘Nah, we want that smoke.’ Well, y’all got smoked. I will say this to give my organization some credit. To go through what they went through this year with losing their best player, I think now we really started to see what Jimmy Butler really meant to the Miami Heat and what he now means for Golden State. But for any organization to lose a guy like that, it exposes you.”

Without Butler, the Heat finished the season with a 12-25 record since the trade deadline. During their losing stretch, they experienced their infamous 10-game losing streak, which was worse than any other stretch with Butler on the team. Now they have clarity heading into the offseason with an obvious goal of acquiring a new star to build around.

DWYANE WADE PROPS ANTHONY EDWARDS FOR ELIMINATING LEBRON JAMES

Despite being 40 years old, LeBron James is still among the top 10 best players in the NBA.

However, none of these things stopped Anthony Edwards from dominating, as he and the Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. On the Wy Network, Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade praised Edwards and the Timberwolves' impressive postseason performances despite being the underdogs.

“Ant makes me go in the mirror and start hooping,” Wade joked. “I think I can do it. I love it, and I think what we've seen is that it took them a little time early in the year to get used to the new team, obviously, with the trade with KAT. But Ant, bro, to come back this year, and you always want to add something as a player. He came back and added that trey ball on their (expletive), but still mix in the posters on you while my commercial is going to drop after the game. But, he’s talking it and he’s doing it.”

Through the first round, Edwards averaged 26.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 6.2 assists on 42 percent shooting and 33.3 percent from three-point range. Over the past two playoff runs, Edwards has eliminated Luka Doncic, Kevin Durant, Nikola Jokic, and James.

More impressively, he’s only 23.

LOCAL RADIO HOST RIPS ANDREW WIGGINS’ MIAMI HEAT TENURE

While nobody expected Andrew Wiggins to replicate the production of Jimmy Butler for the Miami Heat in the postseason, many expected him to play much better than he did against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Wiggins did not play well when the Heat needed him as the third option behind Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro. Brendan Tobin of 790 AM The Ticket expressed how frustrating it was to see Wiggins seemingly lack interest.

“And then, Andrew Wiggins,” Tobin said. “I just don’t think you could have a guy look like he wanted to be on the Miami Heat any less than for a team that was expecting something from him. They were infused with the whole thought of the Jimmy Butler trade was, we’re getting nothing. We’re going to get something. And the facts are that dude who was cosplaying No. 22 when he came here gave you worse than nothing. He gave you apathy on top of a bunch of DNPs. The best part of that trade was Davion Mitchell. Andrew Wiggins was awful in his time here. Looked like he didn’t give a rat’s (expletive).”

Against the Cavaliers, Wiggins averaged 11.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 37.2 percent shooting and 35 percent from three-point range. All of those categories were significant drop-offs from the regular-season averages. As the Heat pursue a star player to replace Butler, Wiggins may not remain in their long-term plans.

Bryan Townes is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at btownesjr@gmail.com or on X @bryantownesjr11. Follow our coverage on Facebook