Jimmy Butler essentially ended trade speculation around him following a report that he would not sign an extension with the Heat or any team this season.
Butler will play out next season with the Heat — which didn’t want to trade him anyway — then he will make a decision on his future in 2025 when he has a player option, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
His decision to play out next season commits him to Miami and clears up any notion of a trade demand due to the lack of an extension. Butler has an affinity for Miami and has wanted to stay with the Heat, league sources said.
Meanwhile, the Heat have shown no interest in trading Butler, league sources said. Theoretically, they could still trade him this summer if they found a deal that suited them, but Butler’s unwillingness to immediately sign an extension would likely limit the return they would receive for their best player.
Butler and the Heat may revive extension talks during the season, reports Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel.
This news comes a day after Bam Adebayo agreed to a three-year extension with the Heat, a team-friendly deal that locks him in Miami for the next five years.
Butler averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5 assists a game last season, and he remains the hub of the Heat system — Miami outscored its opponents by 5.5 points per 100 possessions when Butler was on the court last season but was outscored when he sat. That was bad news come the playoffs when Butler was out for the Heat’s first-round series against the Celtics due to a right MCL sprain. Butler played in 60 games last season and, with that, did not qualify for major postseason awards under the terms of the new CBA.
Player availability was a big thing for Heat lead executive Pat Riley, when asked about offseason plans: “That’s a deep dive for us this summer, player availability. We must change some things but we aren’t going to rip anything apart.”
Other front offices had been watching the Butler situation, thinking if the Heat couldn’t reach an extension with the six-time All-Star they would have to talk trade because Miami couldn’t let him walk for nothing. Butler is under contract for $48.8 million this coming season, with a $52.4 million player option for 2025-26.
This leak from the Butler/Heat camp ends trade speculation because it’s highly unlikely another team will make a trade just to rent Butler for next season and risk losing him.
