Now that Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has reportedly indicated to the franchise that he wants to be traded, NBA fans have their eyes on the situation to see what happens next.
BREAKING: Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants to be traded, per @ESPN
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) January 3, 2025
According to some of the latest reporting on the matter, teams around the NBA “have their popcorn out,” apparently waiting to see how Heat president Pat Riley proceeds.
“Butler is in a slow-moving chess game with the Heat, and the latest maneuver came Thursday when, after dancing around the issue for several weeks, he directly made it clear to the Heat front office he wants to be traded,” wrote ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
“Here is where the rest of the NBA, especially teams that would have interest in trading for Butler, have their popcorn out. There is no executive in American sports like Pat Riley, as his Heat front office operates with a bluntness and strength toward star players that is not of this era.
“When rival teams saw the statement Riley released last week openly declaring the Heat would not be trading their franchise player, there was widespread reaction to the unorthodox but classic Riley move — and to what could come next in this saga.
“‘That is how you project strength as an organization,’ one general manager told me.
“Added a prominent agent: ‘You cannot intimidate Pat Riley.'”
Riley technically doesn’t have to let Butler get his way, and that may be what some people around the NBA are monitoring right now.
According to some Dec. 25 reporting from the Miami Herald, Butler was “disappointed” when the Heat didn’t publicly deny an ESPN report from earlier in the month about the team being open to trading him.
“According to a source, Butler was also disappointed that the Heat did not publicly deny a Dec. 10 ESPN report that Miami was open to trading him,” wrote the Miami Herald‘s Barry Jackson and Anthony Chiang.
On Dec. 26, Riley did finally release a statement in response to the Butler trade rumors, claiming in very clear terms, “We are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
Statement from Pat Riley
"We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler."
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 26, 2024
But now that Butler wants to be traded, Riley’s Dec. 26 statement only complicates matters.
Riley and the Heat aren’t required to trade Butler away. However, the relationship between the involved parties appears to be severely fractured, and it’s fair to question whether having Butler on the team for the remainder of the season would be a positive formula for success.
After all, it can be risky to have a player in the locker room who doesn’t entirely want to be there. Moreover, when it comes to Butler’s actual production, there are no guarantees that he’s going to look like himself in Heat uniform again. He took just five shots in Wednesday’s game and six in Thursday’s game, leading to questions about his engagement level.
“Multiple sources from around the league who watched the game thought Butler looked disengaged,” wrote ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “He missed badly on a one-legged corner 3-pointer in the first quarter, didn’t score until the end of the first half and had a usage rate of 12%.”
If Butler has checked out regarding his Heat tenure, then the team will have to take that into consideration.
The trade deadline is set for Feb. 6 this season. If Miami doesn’t trade Butler, the team will have a couple of other options.
For one, the Heat could simply let the season end with Butler still around and then let him leave in free agency.
Alternatively, the team could keep him heading into the offseason and then work out some sort of trade (either via sign-and-trade or through him opting into his deal) in order to send him to a new destination, perhaps getting some value in return.
While there are technically other possibilities out there (like the Heat and Butler somehow coming to an agreement on a new deal to keep him in Miami), those options seem highly unlikely. It seems safe to assume that the 2024-25 campaign will be the final season in which Butler suits up for the Heat.
It may be true that Riley isn’t one to be pushed around, but if he refuses to trade Butler, he’ll be limiting his options as the Heat try to navigate the situation. Time will tell what comes next.
