Miami Heat going anywhere if Jimmy Butler is not leading?

Q: The best player on the team (Jimmy Butler) doesn’t want to be the first option. The sooner Terry Rozier or Tyler Herro recognize that, the better. – Black.

A: Jimmy Butler very much wants to be the first option . . . in the playoffs. It is against that backdrop that the Heat have to find someone to do more now, so Jimmy can do more later . . . if there is a later. That’s what makes this puzzle so complex, as if there are two Jimmy Butlers, the one who defers during the regular season and the one hellbent for success in the playoffs. Wednesday night was a glaring example. It was a moment the Heat needed some of the best of Butler, and wound up with something far less. Perhaps it was the illness that kept him out of practice on Tuesday. Or perhaps it simply was the conservation effort that has defined his Heat career. It was a night when good simply wasn’t going to be good enough.