NBA rumors: Heat star Jimmy Butler rejecting trade pitches

06/26/2024 02:01 PM

When it comes to the Miami Heat this offseason, the one aspect that has been talked about the most is the contract situation regarding star Jimmy Butler. However, it has been reported and said time and time again that Butler wants to stay with the Heat as proven again by Brian Windhorst of ESPN on The Pat McAfee Show.

While anything can happen this summer, Butler seems as if he is planning to be with no other team besides the Heat for this upcoming season. Even with the talks of wanting a new contract, Windhorst said that he will be back “even if there’s no extension.”

"From what I understand Jimmy Butler plans to be back with the Miami Heat next year even if there’s no extension,” Windhorst said. “There’s teams that have definitely asked if he’s looking to get out and he’s said I’m good in Miami.”

“From what I understand Jimmy Butler plans to be back with the Miami Heat next year even if there’s no extension..

There’s teams that have definitely asked if he’s looking to get out and he’s said I’m good in Miami”@WindhorstESPN#PMSLivepic.twitter.com/4vdZQjAbh0

— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) June 26, 2024

Something else that was brought up by Windhorst is the aspect in Butler’s current contract where he has a player option for next season if an extension does not get done this summer. Meaning he could opt out and look for another deal in free agency as one of the options besides getting another contract from Miami where the ESPN analyst compares it to Paul George’s situation currently.

Heat president Pat Riley non-committal in giving Butler an extension

It was reported after the season that Butler is seeking a new contract extension that lasts two years, worth $113 million which was brought up to Heat president Pat Riley during his end of season press conference in May. This is where the speculation started off a potential split where Riley was non-committal in giving the 34-year old star an extension, citing player availability as a possible reason.

"Well, you know, we don’t have to do that for a year and so we have not discussed that internally right now but we have to look at that and then making that kind of commitment," Riley said. "We don’t have to do it until 25 actually, but we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on it. And we really haven’t really in earnest. discussed it. So we’ll see what happens."

"Well, I mean, if you request we can either accept or we can say we’re going to think about it," Riley said. "We’ve not made a decision on it and I think you can make too much out of this. You still got two years left on the contract. Theoretically he’s got a player option, but that’s something that we have to give some real thought to based on a lot of factors. I don’t want to go through the litany of factors right now because they all go up into different hypotheticals, but yeah, that’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you’re somebody who’s really going to be there and available every single night, that’s the truth."

Pat Riley on if he will be giving Jimmy Butler a contract extension this summer.

"Well, we don't have to that for a year, so we have not discussed that internally…" #HeatCulturepic.twitter.com/JnJwCuKfbS

— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) May 6, 2024

Butler “moves the needle most” for Heat according to Riley

Not to mention the fact that Riley would respond to a viral video of Butler saying if he was healthy, the Heat would have beat the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the playoffs. While Riley questioned if he was “trolling,” he would say for him to “shut your mouth” since he was not on the court due to an MCL sprain in the first play-in tournament game against the Philadelphia 76ers, knocking him out for the rest of the postseason.

While those comments from Riley were the focus of the entire close to 45 minute presser, there were also some praise to the Marquette product from the former head coach. He would say that Butler “moves the needle the most” for Miami which is no doubt true as the past five seasons have been impressive, leading to two NBA Finals appearances.

"Who moves the needle the most on our team is Jimmy," Riley said. "He's an incredible player. What I said at the beginning about change is he's got to give it some thought himself for this team to be what he wants it to be and what I want it to be, and Micky [Arison] and everybody else. This five-year window, we've been pretty successful. We haven't won the chip, and I think that bothers everybody."

Growing sentiment is that Butler wants to stay in Miami

Besides Butler himself saying in an GQ interview that he loves the city of Miami, people were questioning that sentiment since that was before Riley’s press conference. On the other hand, The Athletic’s Shams Charania was also on The Pat McAfee Show and echoed those same sentiments that he “does not want to be anywhere but Miami.”

"My sense is Jimmy Butler does not want to be anywhere but Miami," Charania said on "The Pat McAfee Show." "Sense is that he loves it in Miami. But again, he is extension-eligible this year. There are multiple teams out there that would give him an extension, and I think this is something that we’ll see play out over the next month or so. The Heat don’t want to trade him; he wants an extension. Will they give him an extension? That’s the question."

At any rate, the Heat are trying to improve off of a 46-36 record where they finished at the eighth seed for the second straight season where it resulted in being eliminated in the first round by the Celtics. Before dealing with Butler and any other offseason moves, they have the NBA Draft to look ahead to starting Wednesday night and continuing Thursday.

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