Why Heat should avoid Timberwolves' Julius Randle amid rumors

The Miami Heat are having trouble finding a trade partner for Jimmy Butler. The veteran All-Star's $48.7 million salary is a significant stumbling block under the new collective bargaining agreement. 

Currently, the Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks are seen as front-runners for Butler. However, according to SNY's Ian Begley, the Heat could turn toward the Minnesota Timberwolves as a trade partner, as they are interested in acquiring Julius Randle. 

"Keep an eye on Minnesota in a Butler deal. In the offseason, the Heat were one of the teams that expressed interest in trading for Julius Randle, per SNY sources," Begley reported. "Randle has remained on the Heat's radar during the Butler saga, sources say. I don't know if there are any active trade talks between Minnesota and Miami. But the two teams have been in touch on Butler trades."

If the Heat did send Butler back to Minnesota, he would be walking into a far different team than the one he left in 2019. However, he would likely re-establish the Timberwolves as genuine contenders in the Western Conference.

Miami, on the other hand, would be far worse off. Butler's tenacity and sheer will to win helped Erik Spoelstra overcome some clear-cut spacing issues. Bam Adebayo is a non-shooting big and needs multi-level scorers around him to be at his best. Butler's overall skill set helped curb those issues. Randle, though, doesn't bring the same mentality. 

The Heat would be adding a forward who is shooting 33% from three-point range, including a paltry 26% from the corners. Furthermore, Randle is in the 70th percentile for scoring at the rim this season, converting 70% of his attempts. In fact, the only high-level aspect of his offensive game is his long mid-range shot, which is unequivocally the least valuable shot in basketball. 

Pairing Randle and Adebayo together would be a spacing nightmare. No amount of Spoelstra's magic could overcome that mismatch of skills. Especially with Terry Rozier shooting an ice-cold 28.8% from deep this season. 

It makes sense that Miami is exploring its options. The market for Butler is indeed small. However, Randle would be an ill-conceived concept when adding him to the rotation. There are better options available to the Heat, no matter how much Pat Riley likes the physicality Randle could bring.