Jimmy Butler amped up the stakes Thursday night, erupting in a post-game interview to force a trade out of Miami.
After the Heat were defeated 128-115 by the Indiana Pacers, Butler was definitive in his desire to leave the organization. In 27 minutes, Butler had nine points, two rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
“I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball and, wherever that may be, we’ll find out pretty soon… I’m happy here off the court but I wanna be back to being someone dominant, I wanna hoop, I wanna help this team win but right now I’m not doing that.”
After providing that answer, the 35-year-old was asked if he could find his joy playing for the Heat, Butler’s answer was swift:
“Probably not.”
An ESPN report by Shams Charania quickly followed indicating that Butler is now open to being dealt to any team and not just the initial preferred list of Golden State, Dallas, Houston, or Phoenix.
oh dear. pic.twitter.com/NQvgFsENGO
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 3, 2025
Public War of Words
While it may have initially appeared that Butler was going to take the high road for a change, it appears his patience has reached its limit.
To think, it was just a day ago that he said he was going to make the most of being in Miami, compete, and win.
Previously, as Butler invited controversy and drama to the team with changing his hair color to rumored teams and reports emerged of his desire to leave, team president Pat Riley issued a statement that the Heat would not be trading Butler.
That appears to be the trigger point to Butler’s latest antics, something he already showed he has a penchant for doing in previous stops at Philadelphia and Minnesota.
Watching the last couple games carefully, it’s evident that Butler’s compete level — something that’s usually praised — has significantly dropped off.
Specifically, there was a bizarre sequence against the Pelicans on New Year’s Day. First, he took a one-legged three from the corner with plenty of time on the shot clock. That was followed by jogging back aimlessly before failing to show any effort defending a pick-and-roll. The result was a wide-open three for sharp shooter Trey Murphy.
Well this is one of the sequences of all-time pic.twitter.com/rq1r2tOQom
— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) January 2, 2025
Butler Open to Joining Any Team
After his post-game interview, an ESPN report stated that Butler believes he can make any team a contender and so will accept a trade to any new destination.
His play against the Pelicans prompted members of the Heat organization to question Butler’s effort level, prompting this latest escalation from six-time All-Star.
The report also claims that Riley and team governor Micky Arison met with Butler’s representation in recent days looking to resolve whatever issues may be at hand but were unsuccessful.
There is just over a month to go before the trade deadline, but one would imagine that Riley and the Heat have no desire to have this saga play out over that long a time frame.
