Jimmy Butler

01/02/2025 11:30 PM

Things aren’t so hot in Miami.

After a 128-115 loss to Indiana Thursday, Heat star forward Jimmy Butler has requested a trade from the team, per ESPN insider Shams Charania.

According to Charania, Butler is open to playing anywhere other than Miami and feels he can turn any team into a contender, no matter where he is moved.

The trade request came shortly after Butler provided a very honest assessment of his future with the team post-game.

"What do I want to see happen? I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball," Butler said. "Wherever that may be — we'll find out here pretty soon — but I want to get my joy back. I'm happy here, off the court, but I want to be back to somewhere dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. Right now, I'm not doing that."

He then added "probably not" when asked if he could find that joy in Miami.

The request seems to have been brewing for the past few months after he did not receive a contract extension from the team over the off-season. ESPN had previously reported on Christmas that Butler preferred a trade out of Miami before the Feb. 6 deadline.

However, the team released a statement from president Pat Riley, saying that they won’t trade Butler despite ongoing rumours surrounding the forward.

"We usually don't comment on rumours, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches,” Riley said in the release distributed by the team. “Therefore, we will make it clear — we are not trading Jimmy Butler."

According to Charania, the relationship between Butler and Riley has yet to recover after the president said that Butler should keep his mouth shut if he’s not on the court following a 4-1 first-round playoff loss to the Boston Celtics which the forward missed with injury.

Butler scored only nine points against the Pacers on Thursday and didn’t see the court in the fourth quarter for the second straight game. The 35-year-old forward is averaging 18 points per game, his lowest since the 2013-14 season.

Thursday’s game was not a typical Butler performance. He spent many possessions largely camped in the corner on offence and took only six shots in 27 minutes. He took five shots from the floor on Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.

"That’s not what I’m used to being," Butler said. "I haven’t been that since my first, second, third year in the league, where I just went out there and played defence. I competed. I guarded. That’s what I’m doing now."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra then made Butler the point guard for parts of the third quarter in an effort to spark things. It didn’t work.

“That ain’t going to fix it,” he said.

However, Butler insisted that he would continue competing and reportedly plans to take part in all team activities while the Heat work on moving him.

"I’m going out there to compete to win, either way, whether I score nine points or 29 points," Butler said. "I will compete. That’s one thing that I will say. You won’t say that I’m out there not playing hard. It may look like that because my usage is down and I don’t shoot the ball a lot, but we won’t sit here and say I don’t play hard."

Miami, if it doesn't trade Butler, would run the risk of potentially losing him for nothing as a free agent next summer. He’s making $49 million this season and has a player option for $52 million next season.

Butler is averaging 18.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals this season while playing 31.0 minutes a game.

— With files from the Associated Press