Jimmy Butler is the newest NBA superstar who has put his name in the ‘trade machine’. After rumors circulating for over a month about him being unhappy in Miami, he formally demanded away from the Heat. His agent, Bernard Lee, was adamant at the start of the hubbub however that these rumors weren’t substantiated.
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This led to Lee being proven wrong on countless occasions, most notably by ESPN’s Shams Charania and NBA reporter, Evan Sidery. Sidery was crucial in providing context to Jimmy’s despondency regarding his stay in Miami. His reports ran parallel to Lee, in December, who was denying the legitimacy of said reports.
Now, Evan would go on to call Lee out for blocking him on X. Of course, Lee didn’t take this all too lightly as he sent out a barrage of tweets.
“I blocked you because I got tired of seeing your s**t,” read one such tweet. “Everything you being tweedle dumb and tweedle dumber said was wrong in that. Everything attributed to me never happened, that was what I took issue with,” continued Lee in a separate message.
Alright….. I blocked you because I got tired of seeing your sh*t. Let’s be clear abt a few things. The thing I took issue with was you and the other speed bump was doing the version of Woj you have imagined without the skill where you take a story we all see and in a rush https://t.co/rfkDK9wOG2
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) January 4, 2025
Bernard’s frustrations are understandable. Shams was first on the scene with his report and having this leaked that early on in negotiations must’ve irked Jimmy and his camp. His agent’s rapid, initial responses that denied any such trade request were undoubtedly damage control and rightfully so.
News of Butler’s unhappiness were also quite conflicting. Pat Riley over a week ago released a statement claiming that they would not be trading Jimmy but now, they’ve suspended him for 7 games. He will return after the Heat’s Jan 15th game against the Lakers which coincidentally coincides with players across the league becoming more available for trade.
In the midst of Lee wanting to keep this story on the down-low, Butler made his wish to be traded quite evident following the Heat’s loss to the Pacers. He remarked how he lost his joy while playing basketball and wants to regain it, whether it’s on the Heat or elsewhere.
Riley and the Heat’s front office have since released another statement that confirmed they would be shopping Jimmy. Lee has yet to comment on this.
It’s clear that Jimmy’s run in Miami has come to an end. It was more fruitful than fans realize as in a conference dominated by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and the Boston Celtics, it was the Heat that has made the most Finals in the past 5 years.
Knowing Riley, Miami will surely not rebuild. It was reported today that they want contending pieces in return for Jimmy as they wish to build around Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo.
