The Miami Heat were once unwilling to move on from Jimmy Butler but they have reportedly completely changed their stance on the subject now. NBA insider Shams Charania appeared on SportsCenter on Friday to talk about the Heat suspending Butler for seven games where he stated the team wants to move as soon as possible.
“This is a clear-cut end to the Butler-Heat relationship and as stunning as the seven-game suspension was around the league, more than anything this was an avenue for the Heat to keep Jimmy Butler away from the team over these next couple of weeks,” Charania said. “The situation around the Heat with Jimmy Butler there had been unmanageable.”
“From my understanding, the goal right now is to move Butler as soon as possible,” Charania said. “I’m told the Heat have spoken with teams as of Friday about Butler trades, and they will continue to engage with teams.”
“Just eight days ago, Pat Riley came out and said, ‘We are not trading Jimmy Butler.’ Now, the Heat are fully open for business and Amina, the writing officially is on the wall for Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.”
As Charania stated, Heat President Pat Riley had made it clear on Dec. 26 that they would not trade Butler. They wanted to keep him but the situation has seemingly become unmanageable to the point that they want to ship him out quickly.
Based on Butler’s last interaction with the media, you somewhat got an idea that things weren’t great behind the scenes. After a 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, Butler stated he can’t play with joy with the Heat anymore. It was the clearest public statement yet that he wanted out.
The Heat are now ready to fulfill that wish and it would appear we should expect a trade sooner rather than later. Considering this relatively long suspension over “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team,” it’s also perhaps safe to say the six-time All-Star has played his last game for them.
If this is indeed the end, Butler finishes his Heat career with averages of 21.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. In his five seasons with the team prior to this one, he led them to the NBA Finals twice, in 2020 and 2023.
No one could have imagined after that 2023 Finals run that things would get this bad in 18 odd months. As for where he might end up, he’s been linked to multiple teams. Charania previously reported that the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors sit atop Butler’s list of destinations.
The likely path for Butler to become a Sun would be for them to trade Bradley Beal to the Heat. Beal would have to waive his no-trade clause for this and it remains to be seen if he’d be willing to do that. As for the other team here, we came up with a mock trade that sees the Warriors acquire Butler. They would certainly find it a lot easier than the Suns to pull off a move for the 35-year-old.
The 17-15 Heat, meanwhile, are now preparing for life without Butler, who has averaged 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game this season. They’ll be in action next against the Utah Jazz at Kaseya Center on Saturday at 8 PM ET.
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