Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler’s “transgressions” have included skipping out on morning shootarounds and pushing to take private flights over the team’s charter, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer.
The Heat recently suspended Butler for seven games due to conduct detrimental to the team, and it appears that Heat president Pat Riley has grown tired of Butler’s actions.
“Now it’s Pat Riley’s front office that has shown it will no longer tolerate Butler’s freestyling, announcing to the world on Jan. 3 that the six-time NBA All-Star has been suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team,’” Fischer wrote. “Among Butler’s transgressions, according to league sources, have been multiple instances of Butler skipping out on morning shootarounds altogether and insisting on private flights separate from Miami’s team charter. Former Heat star Tim Hardaway Sr. told Sirius XM NBA Radio over the weekend that Riley sent a 10-page letter to the players’ association detailing Butler’s missteps.”
Butler is under contract for the 2024-25 season with Miami, but he could opt out of his deal this coming offseason to become an unrestricted free agent. Butler has a player option worth more than $52 million attached to his current deal for the 2025-26 season.
This season, Butler is averaging just 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from beyond the arc.
His scoring has certainly taken a hit, as the six-time All-Star is averaging his fewest points per game since the 2013-14 season (he was playing with the Chicago Bulls then). Butler has also struggled to be available for the Heat once again this season, appearing in just 22 games.
Since joining the Heat ahead of the 2019-20 campaign, Butler has never appeared in more than 64 games in a season (excluding playoffs).
Butler led the Heat to the NBA Finals in the 2019-20 season and the 2022-23 season, but the franchise came up short in the championship series both times. Now, with Butler nearing the end of his deal, it appears that his partnership in Miami has run its course.
Butler recently indicated to the franchise that he would like to be traded.
BREAKING: Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants to be traded, per @ESPN
— Heat Nation (@HeatNationCom) January 3, 2025
While moving on from Butler would certainly hurt Miami’s chances of making a Finals run this season – unless it were to get win-now help in a potential trade – the Heat have played well as of late.
They currently are on a three-game winning streak and hold the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference heading into Monday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers.
At 20-17, the Heat are just one game back of the No. 4 seed in the East.
