3 reasons the Lakers shouldn't trade for Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler has been clashing with Pat Riley and the Miami Heat front office for weeks now, and after his recent suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, it looks like it might only be a matter of days until he takes his talents to somewhere other than South Beach.

Los Angeles Lakers fans have been on the lookout for additional pieces in the trade market to help their team, especially during L.A.'s recent surge up the Western Conference Standings, and, in LeBron James, they have recent experience with a star who used to play for the Heat. The Lakers have a long history of trading for disgruntled stars, but does Butler make sense for this team?

Butler possesses some qualities that the Lakers covet, from toughness to defensive intensity to leadership. He also carries a high price tag though, from his exorbitant contract to the cost of players and draft picks it would no doubt cost to acquire him.

The Lakers just traded for a discount version of that in Dorian Finney-Smith, but Butler, a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA player, has a much stronger pedigree. Still, for a number of reasons, he just doesn't fit as a potential trade target. Here are three.

Jimmy Butler doesn't solve the Lakers' need for a big man

Though Butler is undoubtedly at a higher level than Finney-Smith, it's not like the Lakers can just save their receipt and undo the trade that sent D'Angelo Russell, Maxwell Lewis and three second-round picks to Brooklyn. The ink is dry on that one, and besides, the cost difference in acquiring Butler instead of Finney-Smith would be large enough that DFS is still a better bang for the buck.

With that deal already in place, the Lakers need to set their sights on acquiring a big man to help take the burden off of Anthony Davis in the post. Davis has played like an MVP this year, but the toll of having to guard opposing centers while also shouldering such a huge offensive load is sure to wear on him by the time the playoffs roll around.

If Davis is less than 100 percent at the outset of the postseason, Lakers fans know that their team is ripe for elimination. The only chance this team has is to have AD and LeBron running at peak efficiency, and if that means sacrificing some assets to bang with the likes of Steven Adams and Jarrett Allen on a nightly basis, so be it.

Butler has many skills, but as tough as he is, he's not going to be guarding opposing centers every night. The Lakers only have so many bullets to fire before the deadline, and using them all on Butler means acknowledging that the team will remain tremendously flawed.

The best teams in the NBA have incredible depth, but trading for Jimmy Butler would make the Lakers extremely top-heavy

Adding Butler would give the Lakers a new "Big 3." Ten years ago, that would sound great, but in 2025, it's no longer the way to build a team. Just look at how the Suns are struggling with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.

The best teams in the league have stars. Oklahoma City is led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the Cavs have arguably the best backcourt in the league in Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. Both teams can come at you in waves though, with tremendous bench units and high-level role players filling out the rest of the starting lineup. The days of winning with three stars and minimum-salary filler orbiting them are over.

The Lakers would likely have to include Austin Reaves in any Butler deal to make the numbers work. Not only has Reaves been happy to play third banana behind AD and LeBron, he's been playing the best ball of his career lately, and he makes about a quarter of what Butler does. He's also nine years younger and under team control for an extra year.

There's a real argument to be made that Reaves is playing better than Butler is right now, so even straight up, it doesn't make sense for the Lakers to make that deal. To make the salaries match though, Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent would also need to be included, and they'd still be about $10 million short. Who else is there, Jarred Vanderbilt? The recently resurgent Max Christie? JJ Redick would need to hold open tryouts in the Crypto.com Arena parking lot if a Butler deal was consummated.

Would Davis, LeBron and Butler be able to topple the Thunder by themselves? Would they be able to finally overcome the Nuggets or beat the upstart Rockets while at a severe depth disadvantage? That doesn't seem likely.

Every stop in Jimmy Butler's career has ended badly

There are basketball reasons to make or not make a trade, and there are monetary reasons, as well. There are also chemistry reasons, and for all their faults, this Lakers team does seem to enjoy playing together. JJ Redick questioned his team's effort earlier in the year, but trading away D'Angelo Russell was one way to address that, and Redick has to like what he's seen lately, even in competitive losses to the Rockets and Cavs.

Jimmy Butler is a great player, but things always end poorly with him. After one stop or maybe even two it would be easy to say that Butler wasn't the problem, his teams were, but the Heat are now the fourth team that Butler has left under acrimonious circumstances. Eventually, it's time to admit, you are the a******.

Butler has a player option next year, meaning he'd probably be on his best behavior this year so that he could get paid in free agency in the summer. Is that enough to give up a host of assets and tie up your cap space, though? The Lakers could extend Butler themselves, but then they'd be guaranteeing that they'd be on the receiving end of Butler's antics before his contract expired. It always happens.

LeBron doesn't have much time left to chase a ring. Without better short-term options than Butler, he'd probably sign off on a trade since he knows he won't be around for the break-up. The Lakers have a lot more than just this year to worry about though, and mortgaging the future for a malcontent isn't the way to go.