Have you ever broken up with someone while still living with them? It’s weird! It’s uncomfortable. And, unlike Jimmy Butler, you can’t just say, “No comment” whenever they want to talk about something.
The Miami Heat are in uncharted waters relative to how they often operate. They went through a somewhat similar situation with Dwyane Wade from 2014-2016. The franchise’s greatest player ever (that’s how the Heat brand him) wasn’t being given a long-term max deal to stick around after LeBron James left for a reunion in Cleveland. While there was plenty of controversy and debate over the business aspect of Wade not being taken care of by the Heat, trade demands and accusations of him not giving his all never materialized.
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“It was a lot said by everybody, except for me, to tell you the truth.” Butler said after Friday’s loss to Denver, his first game back from a seven-game suspension. “So, we’ll let everybody keep talking like they know everything, like they have all the answers. And then, sooner or later, the whole truth will come out. Until then, we’ll continue to let people talk. And, if I’m here, I will get out there and play.”
That’s the current problem with Butler’s standoff in Miami. It’s gotten ugly as people have been urged to take sides. Leaked information about broken promises, failed attempts to woo help and missed paychecks? It’s all there to put out a favorable side of the story in some calculated way — as if swaying public opinion will produce a better trade package when dealing with NBA front offices trying to poach your disgruntled star.
“I expect people to talk,” Butler said. “Half the reason ’cause don’t nobody ever know what I’m really doing, so you just make up stuff, which is fine. I really don’t pay any attention to it, but I got people saying, ‘Oh, they said this. They said that.’ It’s really all good. I don’t have to clear anything up. More power to you. Keep talking, and we’ll see where we end up.”
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Butler’s trade request, along with other behavior and questions of effort, led to the seven-game suspension. And while all these conditions of distrust and unrest can be thrown about, this issue is pretty simple: It’s about money. Butler didn’t get his max-level contract extension to take him through his age-38 season while making between $50 million and $60 million annually. The Heat decided to be more careful about how they spend their cap space while ensuring they stay below the luxury tax’s dreaded second apron.
For years, Butler was the latest example of Heat Culture. Until he wasn’t. The pairing was much like him being the savior in Minnesota for a young team that didn’t know how to win … until he wasn’t. That situation also blew up over one main thing. While tensions existed between Butler and then-franchise player Karl-Anthony Towns, tensions escalated over money as well. The Timberwolves weren’t going to pay Butler max money on a long-term deal, so, in Butler’s mind, there was no reason to be there anymore. He wanted to be paid like the star player he is.
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It ultimately mirrors the same tension with the Heat. Butler is Miami’s best player. While his availability has been questionable in the last couple of years, Butler is the reason they’ve made two NBA Finals appearances in the time he’s been there. He has put on historic performances and all-time runs for a franchise that has employed Wade, James, Shaquille O’Neal, Mario Chalmers, Alonzo Mourning and Chris Bosh. Players expect to be paid commensurate to their status in the league and with a franchise. Butler is not getting that, so he doesn’t want to be there.
After Wade declined his player option in 2014, he signed a two-year, $34 million contract. It really was a one-year deal because it had another player option with him making under the max. In 2015, he declined that option and signed a one-year deal for $20 million, but the writing was on the wall. Wade wasn’t a part of Miami’s long-term plans, especially at max money befitting of his stardom and what he’d done for the franchise.
The Heat wanted to pay based on the future and not the past, which was a reasonable way to approach it with LeBron out of the picture. On the other hand, it’s also reasonable for the star player to want to be paid for both variables. In the NBA, that means getting max money. By 2016, Wade left for his hometown Bulls in Chicago, which is where he linked up with Butler.
It’s been well-discussed that Butler knows the lore of how the Heat operate compared to dysfunctional franchises like the Bulls and others. When Butler’s time in Chicago was over thanks to his trade to Minnesota, Miami always seemed to be an eventual destination. You match Butler’s mentality and approach with what the Heat preach? It was always going to be a perfect fit until that perfection faded.
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Now, Butler is back from his suspension, so we’re wondering where all of this goes between now and Feb. 6, when the trade deadline buzzer sounds. The team-issued suspension was a shot back at how Miami felt he was mishandling this situation. And it’s something he’ll have to juggle and balance between now and the deadline.
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That’s where the league’s new-ish Player Participation Policy potentially comes into Butler’s favor. To be clear: The Heat can’t just keep suspending him. Because Butler is a designated star by the league’s criteria (having made an All-Star team or All-NBA team in the previous three seasons), Miami has to make him available if he’s healthy. Not to mention, Miami continuing to suspend Butler would bring a lot of action and heat (pun always intended) from the players union. The NBA could intervene and allow it within the PPP’s parameters due to “special circumstances” because of Butler’s trade request, but I’m guessing the league would be hesitant about setting that precedent.
Butler is comfortable making this messy, too. We saw that with his infamous Timberwolves practice back in 2018. But the difference between then and now is the Wolves never suspended him, and it is a threat that Butler can’t potentially get past. That would be more up to the NBA and the union than just him being comfortable in the mess. At the same time, the Heat can’t just keep relying on a suspension as a punishment if it ends up being shot down by the union’s grievance system. And there is some element of possibly alienating future stars from joining the Heat, although I don’t know how much Pat Riley and the organization should worry about that theory.
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For now at least, Butler won’t make public statements about his situation beyond the basketball aspect. When Butler was asked about finding his joy on the court and whether it’s possible to rediscover it in Miami, he said, “I was told to say, ‘No comment,’ so, no comment.”
As we look ahead to the remaining 15 days before the trade deadline, we’re left more in the dark with the Butler situation than we are with most trade possibilities. It’s not an easy deal to make from a logistical standpoint. His contract is large, so it takes a lot of moving parts. It seems like reports lean toward Butler wanting to be in Phoenix; that doesn’t happen without Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause to accommodate a deal, but there is increased optimism about Butler being dealt to the desert after the Suns acquired three first-round picks from the Jazz on Tuesday. There are also reportedly teams Butler has informed about not re-signing with if those teams push to trade for him. Others somehow know that applies to them. So, beyond the logistical aspect, there’s also a potential suppression of his trade market, depending on what happens in the coming days and weeks.
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After his first game back, Butler made comments that both showed zero animosity towards his teammates but also raised an eyebrow at what he was insinuating.
“It felt good to get out there and compete, and actually to run around with these guys,” Butler said after the loss to Denver. “As much as everybody may think, I don’t got a problem with these guys. These guys are cool and my friends. Some guys tapped in, and some of y’all didn’t. Don’t think I don’t know that. My beef not with them and never will be — never has been. But it did feel good to get out there and play some basketball.”
I don’t believe this is a “Daryl Morey is a liar” situation similar to James Harden getting out of Philadelphia. This feels like it’s simply about the money. We’re left wondering how willing Butler is to get messy again. Maybe he’ll keep hitting everybody with “no comment.” It’s also possible he’ll keep dropping Easter eggs on his IG story. Remember his point about saying he hasn’t said anything as everybody else talks, reports and gives their theories? That’s not exactly true. He’s had comments on social media that could and probably should be seen as calculated jabs at the situation and the Heat front office.
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Regardless of how smooth or bumpy these next two weeks are, it’s a distraction for a team that does not benefit from embracing tanking now. Nor would a trade likely give the Heat enough to even make it worthwhile since they’re at .500. But the Heat must trade Butler, who needs to be traded. That doesn’t mean it will happen, though. His $52.4 million player option for next season looms as a guillotine dangling over scenarios he or the Heat may want to avoid, should he not get traded.
The organization and Butler are still awkwardly living together — still cooking in the same kitchen, sharing laundry and tiptoeing around the home wondering what it’s going to look like for each side when they finally move on to someone/something else. The Kaseya Center is now littered with eggshells all over the ground. What happens if the Heat don’t trade Butler and he has to finish out the season in Miami before figuring out how to navigate the summer?
“February 7th?” Butler asked when posed with that same hypothetical following his return from suspension. “We’re playing a lot of ‘What ifs,’ ain’t we? Then, I’m gonna hoop.”
He will hoop. Will it be to the Heat’s standard? Could it lead to more suspensions? Can both parties finally just break up and move on for good? The most chaotic part of the next two weeks (and possibly beyond) might just be that anything could happen in the next stages of this situation, so it can either get real professional or real disruptive. Stay tuned.
(Top photo: C. Morgan Engel / Getty Images)
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