The NBA trade deadline is just over a day away, and no, Jimmy Butler has not been moved out of Miami yet. The never-ending soap opera between Butler and the Heat is hurtling towards, if not a resolution, then at least a new phase, as the possibility of Jimmy Buckets remaining with the team through at least the end of the season is coming closer to becoming a reality.
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Butler has reiterated his desire to be traded multiple times to Heat brass, and all reports have indicated that Pat Riley is trying to accommodate his wishes while still getting something of value in return. Butler’s continued insubordination has resulted in him being suspended three times, making it difficult to imagine him ever playing for the team again, but Heat beat reporter Ira Winderman cites an anonymous Heat player as saying that the roster “would embrace a Butler who would return at the top of his game.”
An anonymous Miami Heat player says the team would welcome Jimmy Butler back if a trade doesn’t go through, per @iraheatbeat
“One teammate privately said that the roster would embrace a Butler who would return at the top of his game.” pic.twitter.com/wGbhVwbtMi
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) February 5, 2025
Excuse us if we take this news with the largest grain of salt possible. Butler has done everything to sabotage his way out of Miami, and the Heat have floundered without him, going just 4-7 in the past few weeks to drop to seventh in the Eastern Conference. The animosity between Butler and Pat Riley isn’t going to magically go away if a deal isn’t able to be consummated by Thursday’s deadline, and if somehow Riley is unable to ship Butler out, the most likely scenario is that the team just shuts him down for the year.
Even with just a day left to complete a deal, the smart money says that Jimmy Butler gets moved
The Phoenix Suns have been Butler’s preferred destination, but a deal is complicated because it likely needs to involve Bradley Beal, who a) has a no-trade clause, and b) the Heat don’t seem to have any interest in. Further muddying the waters are the recent rumors that the Suns might also be looking to trade Kevin Durant, possibly to the Warriors, so who knows how this will shake out as it concerns Butler.
Butler effectively scuttled a possible trade to the Warriors himself earlier this week by reportedly telling the team he had no interest in signing an extension there. If Phoenix is the only place he is willing to sign an extension, that wouldn’t make a deal impossible with another team, but it would significantly lower what the Heat could expect in return since he’d just be a rental. There’s also the matter of whether Butler would be willing to play at all for certain teams given his recent behavioral track record.
If Butler does somehow end up staying in Miami, it’s hard to imagine him returning to the rotation as if nothing happened. “Heat culture” will lose some of its luster if the team overlooks what he’s done, even if he improbably goes back to playing with 100 percent effort.
