Can’t win against Pat Riley

During his tenure with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler played the best basketball of his career.  Playoffs included, he played a total of 380 games but missed one fourth of the team’s games because of various injuries.  He averaged All-Star numbers of 21.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.7 assists.

A 2-year, $113 million contract extension became available for him last offseason, but the Heat did not offer it to him partly because of those missed games.  I would also assume that because Butler is already 35-years old, Miami is probably on the idea of spending that amount on younger talents.

But despite his age, Butler is still playing at an elite level and is dependable in clutch situations..

Naturally, things soured between him and management and were magnified during an end-of-season media conference.  Butler said then that the team could have won the playoff series had he not been injured.  Heat team president and widely rumored team part owner Pat Riley harshly snapped back, saying, “If you’re not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut.”

Since then, Butler expressed his desire to be traded.  His last two games showed him just going thru the motions, taking only 11 shots often just standing in the corner during offensive possessions as if he was lost in the play.  He didn’t play in the fourth quarter in both games.  Talking to reporters after the game, he said he wanted to “get his joy back” playing basketball and he believed it won’t happen in Miami.

As a result, the team suspended Butler for seven games running until January 15 in a game against the LA Lakers.

In a statement, the Heat said, “We have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games for multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks.”  It added, “Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of the team.  Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”

The suspension will cost Butler $532,737 for each game missed, for a seven-game total of $3.7 million.  That’s a small change to the $48.8 million salary he’s getting this season and has a $52.4 million player option for the 2025-2026 season.

Collective bargaining agreement rules and salary cap restrictions limit ways teams can acquire players and Butler’s massive contract makes things complicated.  But there’s no shortage of interested teams despite the logistics involved and as per reports, Dallas, Golden State, Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio had been linked to him.  Take note that these are all Western Conference teams which just shows the competitiveness of the West.

Reports also say that Miami is not looking for big, long term contracts but would settle for something like one-year deals for multiple assets

In his stay at South Beach, the six-time All Star went to the NBA Finals twice (2020, 2023), was named 2023 EC Finals MVP.  He had his winning ways but, in the end, you can’t win over Pat Riley (remember LeBron?) who’s notorious for being tough to his players in order to get the best out of them.