Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat have been involved in a highly publicized standoff the past few weeks, which culminated in the Heat suspending Butler without pay on Friday.
Butler will lose $2.35 million in salary for the next seven games. The 35-year-old is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, as 2025-26 is a player option for $52 million.
Color me surprised that an aging superstar is looking for a fresh start after doing about all they can with their current team. Despite Miami’s 17-16 record, the Heat currently sit sixth in the Eastern Conference, and just two games behind Orlando for the top spot in the Southeast Division, which would guarantee home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
A lot can change between the first full week of 2025, and the middle of April.
Butler told reporters last week that he has lost his joy for playing in Miami. When asked if he can get his joy back by playing for the Heat, Butler simply replied “probably not.” Butler mentioned being happy in Miami while off the court, as was the case when Chris Bosh and LeBron James decided to join Dwayne Wade, rather than the other two coming to Toronto or Cleveland. Later in his career, James admitted to using his four years in Miami as an equivalent to the collegiate experience he never had, being one of the last players to jump straight from high school to the NBA before rules were changed.
Butler declared for the NBA Draft after his junior season at Marquette, where he was an All-Big East Honorable Mention his final two years.
After six seasons in Chicago, which saw three namings to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team (2014-16), and the 2015 Most Improved Player Award, Butler was dealt to Minnesota as part of a five player deal that also included future All Stars Zach LaVine and Lauri Markkanen (now in Utah). Butler also became an indirect social media star when Chicago rapper Froggy Fresh released the song “Jimmy Butler Is Your Father” as a diss track against James and the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2013 Eastern Conference semifinals.
Cleveland won the series in six games, and Froggy Fresh became the butt of many jokes on Cleveland sports talk radio, along with Butler to a certain extent.
Butler requested a trade after just one year in Minnesota, but played a second year when his request was denied. The highlight of Butler’s short tenure with the Timberwolves came in an October 2018 practice, where he famously beat the team’s starters with third-team players on his side. The trade eventually happened after the 2018-19 season, where Butler was moved to Philadelphia. The Sixers were famously on the wrong end of the infamous Kawhi Leonard three bounce shot in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals, that eventually led to Toronto’s first NBA Championship a few weeks later.
This is not as if Butler’s five seasons in Miami have been a blemish on his career and legacy. Miami has made the NBA Finals twice, losing to LeBron's Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 Covid bubble, and then to Denver in 2023. Miami has made the playoffs each year since acquiring Butler, including last season when Butler missed the playoffs due to a late season injury. Eventual-champion Boston knocked out the Heat in five games in the first round.
There is a chance that Butler’s suspension is extended if a trade cannot be made in the next two weeks, despite the NBA Players Association appealing the suspension. Miami would simply be using the NBA's version of the NFL's Physically Unable to Perform (or "PUP") list. The Heat publicly confirmed Butler’s trade request, and are considering offers. Houston and Golden State have been mentioned as possible targets, however the Rockets sit second in the Western Conference, and the Warriors have to start thinking about their future while sitting ninth. With Steph Curry and Draymond Green trying to push Father Time back a few extra steps, taking on Butler would likely cost a young prospect that would come in handy for the eventual rebuild.
At this stage of his career, you would have to think one more trade request from Butler may spell a release and signing for the veteran minimum to a contender. However, if Butler ends up with the Los Angeles Clippers stockpile of aged superstars, the freefall might just be worth the drama that comes with it. James Harden and Jimmy Butler on the same team would keep every salary cap or transaction tracker employed on the internet for another year alone.
-JC24
-JC24