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With the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline less than a month away, the Miami Heat reportedly aren’t getting any closer to trading disgruntled star forward Jimmy Butler.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported during Tuesday’s episode of First Take that the Heat aren’t receiving quality trade offers because teams know Butler is unlikely to sign a contract extension this year.
“We’re at a genuine stalemate. I don’t know how it’s going to play out,” Windhorst said. “The Heat are preparing internally for this to last past the suspension, not because they’ve got some sort of sinister motive, but because they know what offers they’ve gotten and they stink. So that’s where we’re at now.”
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“Jimmy Butler isn’t going to extend with any team. And so, because teams know that, they’re offering the Heat right now the poo-poo platter. There’s only one team that is ready to pay Jimmy Butler exactly what he wants, and that’s the Phoenix Suns.”
The Heat suspended Butler on Friday for seven games for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.” The team said it will be open to trading the 35-year-old, who was once the face of the franchise after signing with Miami in 2019.
“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the Heat said in a statement Friday night. “Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”
Windhorst explained that the impasse between Butler and Miami stems from the team’s decision not to sign him to a contract extension this past offseason. He’s making $48.7 million this year in the final guaranteed season on his current deal, and he has a $52.4 million player option for 2025-26 that he’s likely to decline so he could test free agency.
“You can debate about whether or not the Heat should’ve extended their contract after he had a year last year where he missed a lot of games including their playoff series, but he wanted it done,” Windhorst said. “And once the Heat made that decision, we were, in one way or another, probably onto this path.”
Unfortunately, it appears that other teams aren’t in a rush to give up too much to Miami in hopes of acquiring Butler.
The Heat will continue to get used to being without him when they take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.
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