Heat’s Jimmy Butler named to All-NBA Third Team, but Bam Adebayo left off

The Miami Heat is represented by center Bam Adebayo and wing Jimmy Butler on this season’s NBA All-Defensive teams, but only one made the All-NBA cut.

Butler, a five-time All-Star, earned a spot on the All-NBA Third Team in his second season with the Miami Heat, the league announced Tuesday. It’s the fourth time Butler has made an All-NBA team, as he was also picked for the third team in 2016-17 with the Chicago Bulls, 2017-18 with the Minnesota Timberwolves and 2019-20 in his first season with the Heat.

Butler, who did not get voted into the All-Star Game this season because of a chunk of games he missed during the first half of the schedule, received seven First-Team votes, 26 Second-Team votes and 18 Third-Team votes. He received the second-most voting points on the Third Team behind only Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

But Adebayo was not selected for any of this season’s three All-NBA teams. He did not receive a First Team vote, but earned five Second Team votes and 17 Third Team Votes to finish as the fourth center overall.

If Adebayo had been voted onto the All-NBA First Team, the five-year, $163 million extension he signed last offseaon would have jumped to $186 million. But with Adebayo missing out on the Defensive Player of the Year award, MVP honor and All-NBA First Team, his extension is locked in at $163 million over the next five seasons.

Adebayo and Butler were both named to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Only six different Heat players have been voted onto an All-NBA team in franchise history: Tim Hardaway (First Team in 1996-97 and Second Team in 1997-98 and 1998-99), Alonzo Mourning (First Team in 1998-99 and Second Team in 1999-00), Shaquille O’Neal (First Team in 2004-05 and 2005-06), Dwyane Wade (First Team in 2008-09 and 2009-10, Second Team in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2010-11 and Third Team in 2006-07, 2011-12 and 2012-13), LeBron James (First Team in 2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14) and Butler (Third Team in 2019-20 and 2020-21).

The All-NBA First Team included Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Golden State’s Stephen Curry, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Los Angeles’ Kawhi Leonard.

The All-NBA Second Team is made up of Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, Los Angeles’ LeBron James, Portland’s Damian Lillard, Phoenix’s Chris Paul and New York’s Julius Randle.

The All-NBA Third Team features Washington’s Bradley Beal, Butler, Los Angeles’ Paul George, Gobert and Brooklyn’s Kyrie Irving.

The All-NBA teams were selected by a panel of media members, who select two guards, two forwards and one center for each of the first, second and third teams. Voting concluded at the end of the regular season and prior to the start of the playoffs.

Butler just completed, arguably, the best regular season of his NBA career, averaging 21.5 points on a career-best 49.7 percent shooting and career highs in rebounds (6.9), assists (7.1) and steals (2.1). He averaged a team-high in points, assists and minutes while finishing as the NBA’s steals leader.

Only six NBA players averaged at least 20 points, six rebounds and seven assists this season: Butler, Doncic, Jokic, Brooklyn’s James Harden, James and Washington’s Russell Westbrook.

The Heat finished the regular season with a 7-13 record in games that Butler missed and a 33-19 record when he played, as 10 of the 20 games that he missed came because of the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

The postseason did not go as well for Butler, who averaged 14.5 points on 29.7 percent shooting, 7.5 rebounds and seven assists in four playoff games. The Heat was swept out of the first round by the Milwaukee Bucks last month.

Butler, whose current contract includes a $36 million salary for this upcoming season, is eligible for an extension from the Heat this offseason. The expectation is that Butler will seek a maximum four-year extension worth $181 million that would begin in the 2022-23 season.