Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I will admit that the spectacle of the TGL golf league is growing on me.
In today’s SI:AM:
📸 Paying tribute to an SI legend
⚾ First-year HOF cases
⛳ On the ground at TGL
When and where is he going?
Jimmy Butler’s standoff with the Miami Heat has no end in sight.
Butler requested a trade from the Heat earlier this month, and the team responded by suspending him for seven games. That suspension is set to expire after Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the final game of a six-game road trip. The Heat are next in action against the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
Despite the awkwardness of returning to work after asking to be dealt, Butler is expected to be back with the team once his suspension is up. The Miami Herald reported on Jan. 9 that Butler was expected to rejoin the team after he’s reinstated, and NBA insider Chris Haynes said Tuesday during an appearance on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz that Butler “is fully prepared to return to play” if he’s still a member of the Heat when the suspension is lifted.
But Butler still isn’t budging from his trade request. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that Butler had an in-person meeting last week with Heat president Pat Riley in which he reiterated that he wants to be traded. Bringing a clearly disgruntled Butler back into the fold could be a problem for an already middling Heat team.
Butler, 35, can become a free agent after this season by declining his $52.4 million player option. During the meeting with Riley, Butler said that he intends to decline that option and will not sign a contract extension with the Heat, Charania reports.
Butler has made his intentions clear: He’s done in Miami. It isn’t even about the money. (How many teams are going to want to pay a 36-year-old more than $52 million next season?) Butler said on Jan. 2, shortly before news of the trade request broke, that he wanted to “get my joy back from playing basketball” and that he didn’t think it was possible to get that sort of joy in Miami.
The problem for Butler is that he’s still under contract with the Heat, and the team is under no obligation to trade him, no matter how many times he says he wants a fresh start. If he refuses to return to the court after his current suspension expires, he risks being suspended again and surrendering more salary. The seven-game timeout has already cost him $2.35 million (although the players union has filed a grievance on his behalf).
The Heat have been understandably reluctant to trade Butler. Riley issued a statement on Dec. 26 saying flat-out, “We are not trading Jimmy Butler.” The franchise changed its tune somewhat after the news of Butler’s trade request became public.
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the team said in a statement on Jan. 3. “Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”
But listening to offers isn’t the same as actively shopping Butler and trying to find a new home for him. And none of those offers have been to the Heat’s liking thus far. It’s been nearly two weeks since Butler requested a trade (and longer since rumblings about his displeasure with the Heat first surfaced), but there hasn’t been any real momentum toward a trade. The Phoenix Suns are reportedly the most interested in acquiring Butler, and Butler would like to go to Phoenix, but the Suns would need to also move Bradley Beal and his albatross of a contract to facilitate a trade for Butler.
For now, Butler is stuck in Miami, and will apparently be forced to go slinking back into the locker room while openly angling for a move out of town. It’s an awkward situation, but the end could be in sight. With the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 6, the Heat have three weeks to get something in return for Butler before he hits the open market.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Sports Illustrated photographer Heinz Kluetmeier, who shot over 100 covers for the magazine, died Tuesday. He was 82. Jon Wertheim looks back on the legacy of the man who captured some of the most iconic images in sports.
- Wertheim’s latest tennis mailbag dives into the most interesting early results from the Australian Open.
- Albert Breer’s Tuesday notes column leads with an analysis of how the Rams rebuilt their defense on the cheap.
- Bob Harig attended the second night of the new TGL simulator golf league, which wasn’t any more competitive than last week’s debut. Tiger Woods was there, though.
- Gilberto Manzano explains why the 49ers should consider bringing back former backup Sam Darnold.
- While most of the 14 names appearing on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time this year will be one-and-done, each of them deserves their moment in the spotlight. Tom Verducci evaluated the case for and against each player.
- Indiana fans are fed up with coach Mike Woodson, chanting for him to be fired during a blowout loss to Illinois.
- France is replacing Olympians’ gold medals after several winners complained of their poor quality.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Jimmy Butler’s Trade Request Saga Drags On.
