Jimmy Butler trade drama has picked up as his suspension ends, but that doesn’t mean the sides are any closer to a trade. Let’s break down where things stand with Butler.
Butler suspension ends, this might get ugly
Jimmy Butler’s seven-game suspension from the Miami Heat has ended and he is eligible to return to the court on Friday night when the Heat host the Nuggets.
As of Friday morning, Butler appears to Be ready to play unless the team makes a surprise announcement before the game. Butler has said he will play, and he is not on any pregame injury report, meaning he is available. All signs point to him walking out on the court Friday night—unless the Heat want to pay Butler to stay away from a roster that found some cohesion and went 3-3 on a recent road trip without him.
Plenty of people in the Heat locker room don’t want him to return after he quiet quit on them before his suspension. Here is what Heat players told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.
While Heat sources say they expect Butler to return Friday against the Nuggets and are fully prepared for him to play, there remains a palpable dread at what he might do and the environment the ongoing chaos might create. “I don’t know how he can come back to this locker room,” one source close to the team said. Said another, “We don’t want him back.”
Another source told ESPN that Butler “hasn’t yet begun” to be disruptive. This could get ugly.
If Butler does play Friday night, what player can the Heat expect? The committed All-Star level player averaging 17.6 points a game that we saw at points earlier in the season, or the one that gave a lazy effort and tried to quiet quit on the team in the games before his suspension? Butler has a history of being disruptive when trying to force a trade, just ask the Timberwolves.
That suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the team.” The player’s union has appealed that, and Butler likely gets some or all of the $2.3 million he lost with the suspension back, but the time was served and now things get interesting.
Butler tells Riley face-to-face: Trade me
Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to play in Miami any longer, he wants to be traded — and before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. If not, he will use his $52.4 million player option next season to leave Miami, he will not re-sign with the Heat.
None of that is new, but Butler reiterated it face-to-face with Miami Heat president Pat Riley (Shams Charania of ESPN had the report).
This came as part of a PR push from Butler’s backers to say that the Heat are not being aggressive enough in finding a trade. That echoes recent years when the Heat were passive in adding talent — they stood pat while teams like Boston added Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis (Miami did not land Damian Lillard as was expected at the time) — and the idea is that has carried over to these trade talks.
That’s not what league sources have told NBC Sports (and has been reported by others as well), which is that there is no trade movement because there is a limited market for the 35-year-old, six-time All-Star. What Miami wants in a trade is players who can help it win now, and it doesn’t want to take on bad long-term contracts. Add in the NBA salary tax apron restrictions (Miami can’t take back $1 more in a trade than it sends out) and the fact Butler is making $48.8 million this season and it becomes very difficult to construct a fair trade.
So we wait.
Butler’s frustration with Heat not new
Part of Butler’s PR pushback this week against Miami was clearly aimed at the idea that this was all about money (even though we all know that in professional sports, it is always about money).
Butler’s frustration with the Heat goes back years because while he watched Boston do things such as add Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, the Heat stood pat (not getting a guy like Damian Lillard), according to the latest report via James Jackson of The Athletic.
Two things can be true. Jimmy Butler can be frustrated with the Heat’s aggressiveness, but nobody said anything until it became about the money.
Butler not the easiest teammate to deal with
Think about how bad things have gotten that Butler’s teammates in Miami that one would tell ESPN, “We don’t want him back.” If you ever wonder why the trade market is so small for Butler, start with that in mind.
Butler’s confidants have pushed the idea that the Heat have not been aggressive enough, but Miami knows how to play the public relations game, too, so it’s not a coincidence that “Jimmy Butler is a diva” leaks are increasing as everything drags out.
Diva as in during the NBA Finals in 2023 he stayed on his own in a mansion 30 miles away in Boulder rather than a hotel in downtown Dever like the rest of the team. Diva as in occasionally skipping out on morning shootarounds, insisting on private flights separate from Miami’s team charter, and enough other stuff that former Miami player Tim Hardaway Sr. told Sirius XM NBA Radio that Pat Riley sent a 10-page letter to the players’ association detailing Butler’s issues, reports Marc Stein in his newsletter.
Again, this is not new news around the league and part of the reason teams are hesitant to get into the Butler business.
Jimmy Butler not going anywhere until Summer?
We know where things stand: Jimmy Butler wants to be traded, ideally to Phoenix. Those Suns want Butler. Miami isn’t going to be bullied into taking a bad trade just to dump Butler, and there are no offers good enough on the table. It has been that way for a while.
Most league sources NBC Sports has spoken with on this topic think Butler will remain with the Heat past the Feb. 6 trade deadline and into the summer. He will likely opt into the $52.4 million he is owed next year, and the Heat will find a trade then. Nobody sees a clear path to getting a trade done before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, something executives echoed to Steve Bulpett at Heavy Sports.
“I don’t know how this gets worked out,” one league source told Heavy Sports. “And I only know of a few teams that want to come anywhere near this.”
“It’s more difficult than people think,” said one team’s head of basketball operations. “First of all, Jimmy’s 35 and doesn’t have much value. And then the team that would like him the most is probably Phoenix, because they’re so bad and they have the worst contract in (Bradley) Beal. Other than that, I don’t know of any teams that would want to take on Jimmy Butler, other than teams that just want to dump contracts — and Miami won’t go for that. I just don’t know how it’s going to work.
“But all this stuff with Jimmy — all the stuff in Miami and Minnesota and Chicago and Philly — all of it is because he wants to get paid. That’s where he’s at right now. He wants to be paid for what he’s done for Miami.”
That next contract remains the crux of it — this is always been about money, not the joy of basketball. Butler didn’t get paid by Pat Riley last summer — he wanted a two-year extension north of $100 million — and now he is looking for it elsewhere. Phoenix is the only team that would come close to that (keep reading), but arranging a Butler-to-Phoenix trade is next to impossible.
So here we are, with Butler most likely still a member of the Miami Heat past the trade deadline. Which will have some awkward vibes.
What do Heat want in Butler trade?
This is not a fire sale. Miami’s two primary goals for any trade are acquiring win-now players who can help them this season and next (not just picks and young players) and taking back as little long-term money as possible. If Miami makes a deal, it wants the flexibility to rebuild around Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro without being anchored down by another long-term big contract.
The challenge is Butler is making $48.8 million this season with a player option for $52.4 million next season — and the 35-year-old wants an extension (he could have that tacked on at the end of this contract taking him to age 38, or he could opt out of next season’s contract and sign for two years at whatever number, he wants more than $100 million, taking him to his age 37 season).
To trade for Butler means either teams have to send another expensive player back to Miami, or a team will have to trade four or five players to make it work. If a trade happens, it likely ends up a three- or four-team trade. Which are incredibly challenging to put together (both financially and in making everybody happy). There’s a reason some league sources have said Butler will be on the Heat roster until this summer, when a trade can be put together either around the NBA draft or in July.
Top Butler destinations
This is pretty much a one-team list.
Phoenix Suns
Nothing has meaningfully changed with Butler and the Suns in weeks: Phoenix is working to make the near impossible happen but it remains a longshot. At best.
Phoenix wants Butler “bad,” and there are good basketball reasons for Butler to want to go to the Suns. Teaming up with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker is a no-brainer; plus the Suns lack a certain level of toughness, this is not a team with a lot of dog in it, and Butler would bring that. However, Butler mostly wants to get to Phoenix because its owner, Mat Ishbia, has suggested he would give Butler the kind of extension he seeks.
The problem continues to be making this trade work.
The only realistic way to make this trade work is to include Bradley Beal in the deal, but neither Miami nor other teams around the league want to take on Beal and the $110 million he is owed over the coming two seasons (NBC has reported this before and Marc Stein echoed it). Moreover, Beal has a no-trade clause, so he can reject any trade he does not like. The issue is bigger than just getting Beal to waive his no-trade clause: Teams even considering taking him on want Beal to give up that no-trade clause in the future (so said team can flip him again) but multiple reports this week have said there is no way Beal will give that up (nor should he). It’s a sticking point.
Phoenix continues to scour the league to find a three- or four-team trade in which Beal goes to a third team. As noted, teams are not interested and the few that would consider it want a lot of sweeteners — first-round picks the Suns don’t have to trade — thrown in.
That is why there are many skeptics in league circles, as mentioned above, who expect Butler to be with the Heat after the trade deadline.
Butler open to going to Bucks
Early reports said Milwaukee was in the same situation as Memphis: told not to bother entering the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes — except that is not the case for the Bucks.
Butler would be open to Milwaukee, reports Sam Amick of The Athletic. The bigger question is, would the Bucks be open to trading for then re-signing Butler?
Even if the Bucks wanted to make a deal, it’s hard to say what that looks like — Milwaukee is over the second luxury tax apron so it can’t aggregate players in a trade or take back more money than they are sending out. Miami, over the first apron, cannot take on $1 more than it sends out. The Bucks would have to send out Khris Middleton and more in separate trades to make this all fit, and after all that do they want to pay Butler going forward?
Toronto open to helping facilitate trade
If you’re looking for a third team in any potential Jimmy Butler trade, consider Toronto.
The Raptors don’t want to land Butler (they couldn’t re-sign him and he’s redundant with the talent they like on their roster anyway), but they are willing to take on a “bad” contract for a year if it comes with enough draft picks to make it worthwhile, reports Doug Smith at the Toronto Star. This shouldn’t be a shock, Masai Ujiri has at his disposal some expiring contracts (Bruce Brown, Chris Boucher and Davion Mitchell) of various sizes that could see the player moved to facilitate the right deal.
Toronto is also checking the market to trade those three players outright.
Brooklyn not going to pursue Butler
If, as currently expected, Butler is not traded before the Feb. 6 trade deadline, he has a decision to make: Pick up his $52.4 million option for next season or become a free agent.
Butler wants to get paid, and Brooklyn is the only team that is projected to have maximum cap space next summer. So…
No.
The Nets are not going to pursue Butler as a free agent (they want to save their ammunition in case Giannis Antetokounmpo gets frustrated and wants out of Milwaukee), Marc Stein reported in his Sunday newsletter.
That lack of a market for Butler is why there is a growing expectation he opts into the $52.4 million for next season (the question is, would he opt out for something like two years, $70 million, a little more guaranteed money in total and one more guaranteed year).
Golden State Warriors not interested
Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Steve Kerr all came out this week and said some variation of this Green quote:
“The beautiful part about being in the space that we’re in is, Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and myself all disagree with mortgaging off the future of this organization, saying that we’re going for it right now, Bad teams do that. Bad organizations do that. We’re not neither one.”
The best way to interpret that: Don’t trade for Jimmy Butler (or Zach LaVine). The trio is right, the Warriors are not a team that is one player away and unless there is a top 5-10 player in the league who is under 30 on the market (there is not), then don’t blow things up.
Warriors management was already on the same page, quietly saying there were three reasons they didn’t want to get into the Jimmy Butler business: Butler’s age (35), his injury history, and price tag (the Warriors would have to send out either Draymond Green or Andrew Wiggins, plus Jonathan Kuminga and at least two more players, then have to pay Butler next summer with a massive new contract).
What the Warriors are thinking echoes what a lot of teams are thinking.
What happened between Jimmy Butler and Pat Riley?
This entire saga is all about the money. Don’t pretend it’s about anything else.
Things fell apart between Butler and the Heat when Butler wanted to discuss a contract extension after last season, ideally with him opting out of his $52.4 million for next season to get two years, $112.6 million. Pat Riley emphatically shot that down when talking after last season.
“That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night. That’s the truth,” Riley said. Butler played 60 games last season and was out for the team’s playoff series against the Celtics.
Butler told the Washington Post this week he still believes he’s in his prime.
It’s that simple: Butler wants to be paid, but the Heat don’t want to do it, so Butler wants a trade to a place he thinks he will get paid.
How old is Jimmy Butler?
He is 35 years old and will turn 36 before training camp opens next season. This is his 14th season in the league.
