Jimmy Butler does not want to be a member of the Miami Heat. His public trade request and then specific demands to be sent anywhere but Miami shortly after has put the entire franchise in a chokehold.
Unfortunately for both parties involved, the Heat may not have seen the last of the aging star. Butler’s latest outbursts put each side in a terrible position, as his trade value seems to have now been plummeted. For an organization that refuses to embrace any sort of rebuilding era, it doesn’t seem like they are likely to cave into a settling offer.
Keep in mind that this entire situation remains extremely fluid. Things could change in the matter of just hours, let alone days/weeks. If one team decides to take a risky move on bringing Butler aboard, it takes just a single conversation of negotiations to get the ball rolling from anytime between now and the February 6 deadline.
However, ESPN insider Brian Windhorst recently shared the challenges that Miami is now facing during this spectacle.
Windhorst iterated on SportsCenter that the Heat have “definitely gotten calls” on Butler, but teams are ‘playing serious hardball’, which was worded in a terrific Bleacher Report piece on Sunday morning.
“Right now, I think you’re seeing a lot of teams testing just how low they might be able to buy Jimmy Butler for… The one exception to that would be the Phoenix Suns and sort of the irony of this situation is the best fit and most aggressive team for Jimmy Butler is maybe the one out of the 29 teams that has the hardest time getting him, that’s the Phoenix Suns.
The only functional way they have to get him is Bradley Beal, who has a no-trade clause and the Heat two years ago when he wanted to go there, rejected. So, that would take a third or potentially fourth team, and those deals are very hard to put together. It’s going to be a lot of talking and a lot of complicated maneuvering.” (- Brian Windhorst)
The team has suspended Butler for seven games for “conduct detrimental to the team” amid the ongoing nasty divorce between both sides. What’s left of this Miami roster fighting for a spot in the 2025 playoffs has to face the repercussions of another tenure for the 35 year-old turning sour. They got humiliated in a 36-point blowout effort against a tanking Utah Jazz team in the first game with Butler away from the team on Saturday.
It will surely be interesting to see what Pat Riley’s next chess move is going to be. At this point, he might need to suck up his pride and accept a severely underwhelming offer prior to the deadline in the coming weeks, if he really wants Butler gone. Of course, things could start to heat up (literally and figuratively) on the trade front if the team continues to take a more patient approach to this, but the clock is ticking.
As far fetched as this initially sounds, the third avenue in this dilemma could be holding onto Butler for the remainder of the year if they don’t find an offer they like. In what could fairly be viewed as a lost season already, perhaps both sides here hold themselves accountable to all these events that have transpired and work on a more productive solution to keep the star around.
He would be able to have his own decision of opting out of his $52 million option at the end of this 2024-25 campaign and test free agency, as the Heat would gain plenty of financial flexibility if he departs on his own terms. But are they willing to see just how worse a disgruntled Butler could become from now until the summer?
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Seems like Damian/Blazer “de javu” happening in Miami. In my humble opinion, the season is gone with this mess. They were competitive upto this point. We saw the Heat win some games against some of the League’s better teams. But with this mess, I cannot honestly expect anything better. Do not task the team with unattainable goal for this season.The best the Heat can do, is let the team end the season gracefully and safely with the young core getting experience.Let this be the beginning of the preseason training period for next season.
Go Heat, Go!
Let’s be brutally honest. With or without Butler, there is no way in hell the Miami Heat can compete with the NBA’s elite teams for a championship. I’m referring to Cleveland, Boston and New York in the East and OKC, Memphis and various other teams in the West.
Apparently, some teams may be trying to leverage Riley’s weak bargaining position created by Butler’s trade demand into highway robbery. They want to trade their mistakes/rejects who are on multiple year contracts to Miami plus maybe a future draft pick (or two) for Butler. Such a trade would not make Miami better any time in the near future and would tie the team to bad contracts. F*** that S***!
Contending teams are starting to experience injuries. Others are not performing up to expectations. Some will need a player such as Butler to keep their championship hopes alive. Being the gambler that he is, Riley should hold his cards close to his vest and wait until the last minute (just before the February 6th trade deadline) in order to squeeze out the best possible trade available. By that time, Butler may soften up enough so that he is willing to accept an extension for less than maximum which could help facilitate an equitable trade.
Otherwise, it might be in Miami’s best interest to let Butler know now that if a suitable trading partner cannot be found, he will be expected to honor his contract. At the end of his suspension, Miami can:
Options #1 and #2 are highly unlikely without a major reconciliation between Butler and Riley. Both men are alpha males and are very stubborn, so the odds of them reconciling are extremely low. Butler’s behavior and demands have already had a disruptive effect on the team, as evidenced by the blowout losses in the past two games. Therefore, he should be nowhere near the other Heat players, especially the young impressionable ones. If option #3 happens, Miami will very likely not make it into the playoffs and will get to keep it’s 2025 (lottery) pick. Furthermore, if Butler opts out for 2025-2026, the Heat will avoid paying him over $50M and may still recoup something (draft pick?) in a sign and trade agreement. If he opts in, Miami can trade him to highest bidder over the summer. He can work out a contract extension with his new team at that time.
Notifying Butler of the team’s intent now, gives him and his agent a full month to talk to teams he is interested in playing for. If any team(s) are serious about trading for him, it will be incumbent upon them to make their best offers before the deadline.
One other benefit of going forward without Butler is that it frees Spo up to play the team’s younger players (without the pressure of playoff implications) and it frees Riley up to explore trading any veterans who do not fit the team’s long-term plans/ timeline for younger players with potential and/or draft picks.
It’s now up to Riley to resolve a problem he was partly responsible for creating. Being a former athlete, Riley knows how fragile/sensitive athletes’ egos can be. Publicly calling out your team’s leader by telling him to “shut up” is not the best way to maintain a harmonious relationship.
I disagree with article. Heat can keep Jimmy away from the team and wait to some contender teams no quite contending and Jimmy to get a bit nervous.
This season is already a bust, so why bother with him.
If nothing happens till trade deadline, then they should wait till summer.
It’s kind of a worse case scenario if he isn’t dealt by the deadline, but it could happen that way.
talk to jim makeup with him he loves the city tell him youll play bam ware together .your not getting back equal value.when teams know your trading a player value goes down quite a bit.mend your differences pat.u saw what this team gonna be like w/o him.
Once again, I totally disagree. Two very strong personalities. I believe that the relationship is irrevocably broken.
they need to bring in a mariage counselor .pats not going to get what he wants rc
I agree. Riley will not get anywhere near equal value. But I would be surprised if Butler plays another game in a Heat uniform. It is more a matter of clearing cap space for what comes next. I also think other players will be gone, either by trade deadline or end of the season.
pats gonna have to have sit down with jim your not getting anything near jims value.i dont want to watch games w/o jim.i will but if we have jim and play a big front line of ware bam jovic butler and ty thats a good fn lineup that can do damage.rc
We shall see. I say turn out the lights, the party’s over. He dogged it all last season and came back this season doing the same thing after promising he was going to try to play every game. My opinion? Gonzo.
This should make you happy. From Miami Herald.
While the Miami Heat continues to listen to trade offers for six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler, his Heat tenure isn’t officially over yet. According to a source close to the situation, Butler will be expected to rejoin the Heat and play in games if he’s still on the roster at the end of his team-issued seven-game suspension. As of now, the Heat is not interested in having Butler remain away from the team while paying him the remainder of his $48.8 million salary for this season after his suspension is over.
WOW! By requiring him to come back to the team after his suspension, Riley is forcing Butler to walk a fine line or face another, longer suspension…without pay -and- is motivating him and his agent to find a suitable trade destination, as soon as possible.
Jimmy is acting out over a few million dollars in a $0 income tax state when if he was playing with Golden State he would be paying 14.4% in state income tax. That would be over $7M this year and over $7.5M next year (over $14.5M total).
I don’t think this has to do entirely with money. I think Jimmy saw his chance of winning a championship in Miami slipping away, so he decided to create a hostile situation that would result in him being traded to a contender of his choice, such as Houston, Golden State, Dallas or Phoenix.
Unfortunately, because his conduct was detrimental to the team, he is now sitting at home for a couple of weeks, without pay, teams are submitting lowball trade offers for him and the players and fans are left feeling like he quit on them.
It seems like everywhere Butler goes, he leaves a mess in his wake.
That last paragraph is all it is to Jimmy, not the money. He can’t say it but he sees the limitations of this team and he wants one last chance to win. Quite a few writers,including important ones like Steven A., are blaming Pat for not building a supporting team around him.