Heat president Pat Riley drops blunt reminder of what being 'under contract' means

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The Miami Heat have seen their name brought up in the trade rumor mill around the clock as of late, with star Jimmy Butler currently serving a seven-game suspension after publicly insinuating that he wanted a trade. The Heat are just two years removed from an NBA Finals appearance but have seen several teams in the Eastern Conference pass them by, putting them in a bit of an awkward spot moving forward.

The Heat are led by team president Pat Riley, who has become well-known in the NBA for his no-nonsense style of conducting business. Recently, Riley took to the Dan Le Batard Show to break down what Heat Culture is all about in an interview that was apparently recorded prior to the recent Jimmy Butler saga.

“There's a difference, be who you want to be, but in one of the great biblical terms, render onto Caesar you know what is his,” said Riley. “As players, they have to render unto the Heat really what is theirs too, and while they go out there and they do all these other things, you can't short cut it with us. I've actually explained this to the players is that while you're under contract with us, you do owe us something. Your collective bargaining agreement contract says that. So don't ever take that lightly and we have a very cooperative group of people.”

Butler hasn’t exactly been the personification of cooperation recently, as he gave minimal to no effort in the Heat’s recent blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers and all but requested a trade in his postgame press conference, prompting the suspension.

Where do the Heat go from here?

Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Heat have seen significant regression this year not only from Butler but also from Bam Adebayo, Terry Rozier, and Jaime Jaquez Jr., putting them just a game over .500 at the current juncture.

The team has gotten a breakout year from Tyler Herro, who is a candidate to be named an All-Star for the first time in his career this season, but that hasn’t been enough to make up the difference.

Complicating matters is the fact that Butler’s contract is up at the end of this year, meaning that any team who trades for him will do so knowing that it could just be a half-season rental, which lowers his value.

In any case, the Heat will next take the floor on Thursday evening vs the Utah Jazz.

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