Thank you, Maul. It's pretty impressive. But I'm saying this to say that what I want to know from you is, because I see his game, and I wasn't an offensive player like that. Three level guy, but likes one level way more than the other. Like he likes to be on top of the rim, like which is which is weird. Ken's Ken catch and shoot it or shoot it, you know, off the bounce from deep. but the mid range, right. Is where like, I'm trying to get him to see like teams understand he wants to score. They're sending a lot of bodies at him. He's getting to where he wants to be. And now they're like, there's a bunch of people around him. So I'm talking to him about like, look, if you get to that mid range, you get to this stop. Um, that double isn't like as present or you have better vision on it and you can make the play out of that. We work on it and I, it translates occasionally. So I know he can do it, but it's not showing up. Like you're talking about when be showing up all the time. Like, what is the trick? Like, I'm not, I'm asking you as a teacher, like, what is the trick to teaching that skill, articulating that skill and, but then getting it to show up over and over in the bag.

I think, I think a good trick for him would be, maybe not now, because they're in a season, but after the season, get one of his friends, get one. He can play one-on with only mid-range shots count. Only

middies, yeah.

Because you're just tricking the mind, right? All it is is tricking the mind. So in repetition, where you do it so much, the second nature, because he's naturally at the rim. He's naturally shooting the three. I'm not saying don't work on that, but would absolutely do like one-on competition where he could only score in the mid-range. And he'd specifically work on that because he's just going to take the thought out. In the mid-range, as we know, it's like the jab in boxing. Like it has to be needed. It's funny in analytics, and I'm not saying there's nothing wrong with them, but it's funny in the playoffs when the most important time of the year analytics kind of go out the window. It's like we want whatever point we can get to generate to help our team move the scoreboard. So, yeah. I would absolutely have him play one-on just in the mid. No layups, no threes. He has to do his moves, get their stock on the dime. And what's crazy is, he averages 25, you said? Yeah.

If

he adds that, I guarantee it goes up to 28, to 29. Like, it's just a whole, it's the hardest shot to guard because you're going full speed and stopping on a dime. I hated it. I hate it. Think about you. One of the best defenders that you hated most to guard.

Absolutely. No doubt. Appreciate that. For sure. All

right. Let's shift gears just a little bit here i had i had thought i had decided policy wise like we're just done with jimmy butler for a while we talked about this like too much but

like don't be done with my former teammate back come on man don't do that i love jimmy always been a big jimmy fan but

like last night holy crap so like i feel like this has just been months of everybody calling each other's bluffs right uh the heat's like uh we need jimmy to play more oh we're not giving an extension then it was jimmy butler's camp saying oh we don't want an extension. Actually, we want to go to free agency. Then it's murmurings about wanting a trade, but maybe we want these places. Maybe, I don't know, there's all this just whatever, just a lot of obfuscation, a lot of just... And then Riley comes out with a statement, which he never does, saying last week, we're not trading him. Enough of this. No distractions. And Jimmy last night basically says like one leg three. Yeah. I'm not sure I want to be here anymore. Oh, happy. Yeah, I'm happy here. I'm just not happy on the court. I got to find my joy again. I don't know, guys. You you played the game like is the most important player on their team, obviously. This has been looming over them, and they've been trying to tamp it down and just at least salvage this season and then figure it out. Not to get hot takey, but I feel like last night is the night that the Heat season died because Jimmy just laid all the cards on the table. You guys can speak to this from a teammate's perspective. Like if you know the guy's checked out, it doesn't want to be there. There's been a lot of talk about whether he's quote unquote, quiet quitting, meaning he's like, he's just going through the motions out there. Jimmy bristled said, no, I'm still playing hard, but he's not taking that many shots. Like, I don't know. Is it already over? I guess Riley statement, notwithstanding, is this thing just already over and it's just a matter of time before they just find whatever deal gets them out of this mess? I

think obviously they're saying who's going to blink first. I think Riley, as you said, Jimmy also knows, I'm sure, that Riley doesn't just come out and say anything. So for him to come out of the shadows and say we're not trading him strong, right? They're stronger than even us from a distance we'll look at because they know how they operate. But Jimmy is basically saying, hey, I'll be here and be professional. I'll show up, but I'm not here. You know, so we can play this game if you want. We can do this. But at this point, it goes from, okay, Jimmy and the Heat are at odds to where does this bleed into the other players and the team? And that's where it becomes like, okay, we just have to move them and continue on and look towards the future. Because right now, you can still get a lot for Jimmy Butler. You can still add to your team. But this is going to be a distraction for some organization that hates distractions, right? Like they like to stay focused. They like to stay locked in as much as possible this is just this year this goes back as long as you know rouse has been there and spose been there and i think it's going to be a distraction until they do something so i don't see this last um

howard uh obfuscation is crazy okay just just crazy vocab word bro like i i had while

you all were talking you were not looking this up over there roger that's not i was definitely not looking up

obfuscate um it's crazy but um holy

cow what can i say i was an

english major yeah no well done well played um so listen here's my question. And like, I don't know, Jimmy, I ain't played with Jimmy. I am a fan. Like what that brother does on a basketball court to impact winning, I don't think is deniable in any way, shape or form. What he's done for the heat speaks for itself. I'm curious as to the root of this problem. Like, is it, you know, I've been a good soldier here. I've, I've basically single-handedly at times taken and dragged this team to places that it would not have gone with the talent that I'm surrounded with. Like, and I'm kind of frustrated at this middling kind of middle of the pack heat situation. Like, where are we going? I'm the star. Or is it like, Hey Jimmy,my we're gonna turn this kind of over to tyler now we're gonna need you to transition into the next phase as a player and need you to be a good soldier about it that's first and foremost for me i don't know what the root of it is from jimmy's perspective like and and that's a real thing sometimes jamal you know that for like guys that are used to being the the alpha um and i think this is a this is a this is the heat's own. This problem is a is the heat and their ability to be viable even when they shouldn't be viable. Right. And it keeps them in that middle ground. It keeps them culturally in that spot where they look at each other and say, hey, is it time to rebuild this? And they can't let themselves do it. So they stay. Jimmy Butler and a bunch of others might get us to the promised land, even though we might not win it, but we can sell that to our fan base who is basically, you know, heat culture all the way. Like they don't want to lose games. And I think you put yourself in this spot when you continually chase that instead of recognizing a year or so ago, like most of us did, that it might have been time then to start to do what you needed to do in an effort to stack the chips for draft picks, for cap flexibility and all of the things that could get you out of this situation. you know those are some thoughts i don't have answers to it but like i think the heat made their problem um they sit here now it is a wrap like make no mistakes about that like jimmy butler versus pat riley you you give me two two people with with with more ego than those two like i mean i i don't know but uh and hard-headedness like i i but i but i would be interested to know what is the root of this is it is it the first, Hey, Jimmy, just don't get the type of help he needs. And he's ready to go somewhere and try to win a chip in his, in his last, you know, uh, ride. Or is it like, Hey, we want to transition this over to Tyler and the young bows. And, and, and we don't really see you in that light anymore.

Raj, let me ask you this. If you're, if you're Riles or you're the president or front office guy making the decisions, you riding what you just said and said hey i'm riding with jimmy butler we see him do it time and time again or are you saying you know what it's becoming too much of a distraction it may bleed into the future of our team i gotta make a move which one are you gonna do if you're riles yeah

see at this point uh it's it's it's a tough one because the end of the day, like, you know, there is an element of your ego, your hubris, your man. Like this man has basically come out and put your feet to the fire saying, yo, you're going to trade me. And that's a tough pill for competitors to swallow. But I guess if you made me pick, I'd move him, Jamal. Like I'm the guy having lived as a distraction late in my career in Utah, having seen distractions. There's nowhere to go when that's there. It's hard to be the best version of yourself and the best version of your team while that's present. So even if it means we take a step back to take two steps forward, I'm going to take the step back right now. And I'm going to make sure that, you know, we get that out. And then especially when I have a culture in place like the heat, which it's basically just I don't mean to take anything away from the people boots on the ground, but it kind of runs itself. Everyone knows what it is. So like we get we get we get the pieces in here that aren't the distraction. I think we'll be all right. Beck,

what are you doing? felt like

i should have traded him a year ago um because i just thought that this era it was pretty clear you it run its course right like those two runs to the finals were amazing and defied all the odds especially the second one and but jimmy's you know in his mid-30s and you know as you guys know like even in this era right like it's amazing what lebron and chris paul are doing this late in their careers what step is doing. But in general, in this league, you get to your mid thirties, that's when you start to feel things slip and especially guards, um, you know, and, and Jimmy, you know, whatever he's, you know, he's a wing guard, small forward, but like he's played a bruising style. He's played a ton of minutes. He played under tips for several years. Um, like there's just a point of of diminishing returns. And, you know, they're just, they're just not good enough to overcome Boston and Cleveland and the Knicks, Philly, if they're ever healthy, Milwaukee, whatever. And so at some point you got to pivot. Easy for me to say, right? And now, especially with the situation as it is where they didn't want to give him the extension so roger your question i don't know i'm not going to say i know this authoritatively but i think there's two problems right now one he didn't get the extension he wanted last summer so that's putting him in a bad mood in the first place forgot about that and then two yeah things are shifting hard toward tyler hero as, you know, playmaker, you know, first option on offense kind of thing. And Jimmy's sitting in the corner feeling like this is not, this is not who I am. This is not my role. I'm Jimmy fricking Butler. I don't blame him. Like I, I get that. But the Heat are doing what they feel like they have to do to put themselves in the best position, not just now, but going forward where, where Tyler Hero and Bam Adebayo are going to be their tent poles. And yeah, if Jimmy's not on your timeline anymore, then it is time to move him. But cap-wise, it's tough because if you move him, you don't want to take back... They're in position to have a lot of cap room next summer, and I think they want that flexibility. So Jimmy stays and optss in that hurts them in terms of their ability to be flexible next summer jimmy walks away as a as a free agent okay you lose him for quote unquote nothing but you you gain a ton of flexibility to do other things with that cap room in a time when the nba cap room is is really tough to come by and flexibility is tough to come by you're in a good position um to that. So if you trade him, you don't want any contracts beyond the season, probably, unless they're really small. So that's hard to do when he's making $49 million and with all the matching rules that there is. So I get why the Heat have not been eager to just make an in-season deal. Maybe this haven't found the right deal. Maybe this now, you know, Jimmy's now reversed things again in terms of like who's the pressure on well now it's on the heat to like resolve this maybe they have to take a deal that they don't want i don't know are they going to call his bluff again and say fine be miserable sit in the corner or you know what we're just not going to play i don't know this thing could get really ugly in a hurry um but yeah if you're asking me yeah move them in the next four weeks.