The Miami Heat could make a franchise-altering decision within the next few weeks.
Jimmy Butler has returned to the hardwood for the Miami Heat after serving a seven-game suspension. There were questions as to what the dynamic of the team would look like with Butler returning to the locker room.
Evidently, Butler’s issue is with Miami’s front office — not his teammates. In his two games back, he’s averaged 13 points per contest in an average of 30.5 minutes played.
Whether or not the Heat trade the superstar forward is in question and will boil down to the offers the club gets for his services. If they don’t move on from him, expect Butler to honor his contract with the team.
It’s clear Butler is no longer happy in South Beach, and his relationship with Pat Riley and the Heat front office is the leading reason why. He’s still under contract, though, and will honor said contract through the remainder of the season before weighing his player option this offseason.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon recently took to “The Hoop Collective” to talk about the situation regarding Butler and his status with the Heat.
“He said ‘I’m gonna hoop’, which I did not expect him to say, and frankly, if that is actually true – which by the way we are in the absolute funhouse mirror zone so who knows what’s true or not – I was just surprised he even put that out there as a possibility,” MacMahon said.
If Miami can’t find a trade partner for Butler, they will want to do whatever they possibly can to mend whatever relationship they can as they following the deadline. Still, MacMahon reports the club will “try very hard” to find a potential suitor and partner for a move.
“I’m not sure how many teams will be interested in a trade in mid-season,” MacMahon continued. “I am not sure the Heat will find a trade they can do by the 7th. I think they are going to try very hard.”
As things stand now, the Heat are 21-20 and sit seeded No. 8 in the Eastern Conference. They could very well be a Play-In Tournament team, though they’ve done quite well throughout the years as a lower-seeded team in the playoffs.
In 2020, the No. 5-seeded Heat, led by Butler, made the NBA Finals. They did the same in 2023 as the No. 8-seeded team after playing in the Play-In Tournament.
If Butler ramps up his play like he typically does in the postseason combined with the success Tyler Herro has had this season, the Heat could be a threat to a higher-seeded team.
However, being the No. 8 or No. 7 seed would be quite an issue as they’d then be facing the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Boston Celtics in the first round, which wouldn’t bode well for them.
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