It’s been an ugly 2025 so far for the Miami Heat as they wrestle with the Jimmy Butler drama. The good times were good: two Finals appearances, a strong relationship with the Heat’s other prominent players, and excellent two-way play that embodied what the Heat stand for.
But good times don’t last forever. They’re now experiencing the lows of Butler, who took a similar approach when dramatically forcing his way off the Timberwolves. He’s not quite storming into the practice gym to assemble the third-teamers yet, but we may be nearing that territory soon. The Heat are now shopping him around the league outside of his preferred destinations. It behooves them to move Butler as quickly as possible before things get ugly.
In the West, the Thunder (30-5) are still firing on all cylinders and have ripped off 15 wins in a row even without Chet Holmgren. Uh oh. They’re seven games ahead of the second seed Rockets (23-12), who just lost Jabari Smith Jr. for an extended period of time due to a freak incident prior to tip-off; he now has a broken hand.
In the East, the Cavaliers still maintain a lead over the second-seed Celtics and have almost the same record (31-4) as OKC. These two powerhouses will face off on Wednesday the 8th in a huge matchup between the league’s two strongest teams.
We’re shooting the Three Lists of Threes today for your weekly dose of fantasy tips: Buy-lows, sell-highs, and streams.
Here are some buy-lows we can consider.
Buy ’em
Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat
Nothing about Bam’s last two weeks has been terrible, but nothing’s been amazing, either. It’s just that you probably expected a little more production from someone you likely drafted in the third or fourth round. In the last two weeks he’s averaging 14.7 PPG, 8.7 RPG, and 4.4 APG with 2.4 stocks, largely without Jimmy Butler playing. His usage is also down this season, sitting at 22.5%, his lowest since 2019-20. If the Heat have any playoff aspirations in the post-Butler era, Adebayo will need to step it up.
James Harden, PG, Los Angeles Clippers
There will be someone out there – not me – who will be worried about Harden’s production in the wake of Kawhi Leonard’s return. And to those people, I’d ask them to weigh which side they’d trust more: James Harden’s production this season or Kawhi Leonard’s health.
Harden has bounced back this year in a big way as the alpha in the Clippers’ offense. He’s playing well and will continue to do so despite a recent slump in his past five games in which he’s averaging 18.6 PPG and 7.2 APG while shooting 40.6% from the floor. He’s not going to be efficient this season, but that’s okay. He’ll definitely be worth flying out a second rounder for.
Jalen Williams, SF/PF, Oklahoma City Thunder
Williams’ team has been on fire but he has not. Over his past seven games, Williams is averaging 17.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 5.6 APG, and 1.6 SPG. These numbers, while weaker than his production from earlier this season, are still respectable. His percentages are dragging down his ranking. Over the past two weeks, he’s ranked 123 in 9-cat due to 43.3% FG and 65% FT. He’ll bounce back.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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