Barring something unforeseen, conventional wisdom would suggest that Jimmy Butler’s time with the Miami Heat has come to a bitter, grotesque end.
He is suspended for the next six games–a West Coast road trip that goes through Jan. 15. Butler’s trade market was never going to look good–especially after ugly exit, which could make it difficult to complete any two- or multi-team trade that’s mutually beneficially.
One part that factors into his theoretical trade market is what he will decide to do after the season. Previous reporting has suggested that his intentions were to opt-out of his $52 million player option. But according to a handful of league executives who spoke to The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, Butler may not receive a max extension if he decides to opt-out.
“League sources agreed that Butler is unlikely to have $50 million per season waiting for him if he were to hit the open market this summer because of which teams project to have cap space and the new CBA making things more difficult in terms of sign-and-trade flexibility,” Vecenie wrote. “I asked five different NBA executives to, as of now, project Butler’s contract for next year if he were to decline his option and hit the market. The answers were that he likely would get something in the ballpark of a shorter-term deal around $30 million to $35 million per season. Would a three-year, $100 million deal be waiting from a team Butler would be willing to play for? Would that be enough to get Butler to opt out of his deal? Would Butler be willing to opt in or opt out of his option upon being traded within the next month in order to get to a premium destination and give that team certainty for its planning? That would be risky for Butler, but — taking his words at face value — he was clear in his news conference that it’s not about money for him.”
Assuming current cap projections remain the same, Butler’s new contract would have a first-year cap hit of approximately $54 million. A new deal starting at around $35 million flat would decrease his first-year cap hit by 35 percent relative to the aforementioned max cap hit and 33 percent to his $52.4 million player option for next season.
Butler’s seven-game suspension means he is on track to play only 46 games this season–with a max of 65. The 35-year-old has only played 75 percent of his team’s games just twice since the start of the 2019-20 season and thrice since the start of 2017-18.
It’ll be fascinating to monitor his free market, considering the aging wing isn’t getting any younger nor more spry. He’s also one of the biggest names in free agency this summer. But are we sure, at this stage of his career given the circumstances, that he’s worth anywhere near the max he was demanding last summer? The market is the market, so I guess we’ll see!
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Jimmys sick of mediocrity just like tyreek.Pats fault chris griers fault get better players pat.Cut the cruises to 2 weeks not 2 months
Wrong Jimmy wants money, same as tyreek. If Jimmy was really sick of mediocrity, he would take a paycut. Tyreek wanted more money that’s why he left kc, if he stayed he would of had more rings, so he chose the dolphins.
Jimmy is no different than the other selfish primadonnas in the NBA. They want max money and expect the team to bring in other highly paid players so thy can have it all (be paid top dollar AND win a championship). The problem is, when a team does that, they don’t enough money left to pay for a strong supporting cast. (e.g., Phoenix Suns). Players like Kevin Durant and LeBron James could have had several more rings if their egos and greed hadn’t gotten in the way.
I love hearing the highest paid players on a team complain that the team isn’t good enough. Jimmy and Tyreke are like the guy in the hot dog costume from ‘i think you should leave’.
Gms see jims availability and his age your not going to get what u want back.mend feelings get him back here pat i want heat games to be meaningful.Theres no whales coming here.We have an old whale that wants to be treated better.Kiss his ars pat.Apologize for ripping his avail.He puts ball in net pat u dont.He makes tys and bams job esier for them.A certified old injured whale.Treat him with respect and he wont be hurt as muchHe needs alot of love pat.Hes a diva just like lebron
The Phoenix Suns have decided to bench Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic after losing their last four games and falling to No. 12 in the West. The franchise will be starting rookie wing defender Ryan Dunn and veteran big man Mason Plumlee in place of the two Suns stars.
FYI: Bradley (and his $160M contract over the next three years) is the guy Phoenix wants to dump on Miami in a 1:1 trade for Butler. No thanks. You guys can wallow in your own mess. We’ll figure out how to resolve ours.
suns to top heavy kd book nothing else
I was watching the Nuggets play against the Spurs this weekend. The nuggets have Russel Westbrook at the minimum, the Spurs have Chris Paul at $10 million per season. Is Jimmy Butler three seasons from now going to be better than either of those guys are this season? It’s no wonder the Heat haven’t traded him. Nobody wants to pay that guy fifty million dollars anymore
Jimmys made so much $$$ on and off ct its about wearing jewelry more than $$$
That’s what he said, but is it so? Imho if he got the extension he wanted last summer he would be a happy camper now.
I am not saying he doesn’t want to win rings, he sure does. But he doesn’t want it so much that he would voluntarily accept smaller contract for the next season, so that Pat can bring help.
The only jewelry Jimmy will ever get from his NBA career are the ECF Championship rings he got in Miami
Inflated ego and deflated value. If Butler is still around next summer and opts out, he’s going to have trouble finding a team willing to pay him what he was demanding from Riley. I’m convinced he’s listening to the same guy who advised Caleb Martin to turn down a 5 year $65M deal from Miami only to wind up getting a 4 year $32M deal from the 76ers.
The Phoenix owner is apparently willing to give Butler the max extension he is seeking, but Riley is not going to trade him for Bradley Beal and his 3 year/$160M+ no-trade contract. Maybe for Devin Booker, but not Beal. I’m sure that must be pissing Butler off even more. What goes around comes around. Maybe he shouldn’t have quit on the team.
Oh well. On to Sacramento tomorrow and Golden State on Tuesday. Maybe Riley can work out a three way deal with those two teams by Tuesday night (wishful thinking).
GO HEAT!!!
suns not giving us booker no way coolio
And Miami isn’t taking Beal to please Butler. So there’s that.
Keep him deal with it off season