Erik Spoelstra's message to Heat after Jimmy Butler's latest suspension: 'Get over it'

Jimmy Butler was suspended by Miami Heat for the second time in three weeks, a move that adds to the possibility that he has already played his final game for the franchise.

Butler lifted the latest suspension – this one will last two games — for what the team called in a statement Wednesday night “continuous disregard for team rules, unruly behavior and conduct detrimental to the team,” including missing Heath’s flight to Milwaukee earlier in the day. The Heat were scheduled to play the Bucks on Thursday and at Brooklyn on Saturday.

The earliest Butler could play again for the Heat is Monday, at home against Orlando. And that would depend on whether he’s still on the roster, which seems far from guaranteed.

In Milwaukee on Thursday, where the Heat were preparing for a game against the Bucks, Miami coach Erik Spoelstra would not discuss Butler specifically. But when asked how quickly the league can turn around when changes occur, Spoelstra talked a lot.

“The point I told our team is to get used to it. Get over it,” Spoelstra said. “This is life in the NBA. This is the life we chose. If you think it’s just going to be predictable, you’re wrong. I think it takes mental strength and dedication just to focus on the task at hand. it changes in terms of what the task is. We have enough continuity at this point.

Butler said as much to the Heat in recent weeks wants tradea request he has not made publicly because league rules do not allow players to do so. Any player who makes such a request risks a fine of up to $150,000.

But the Heat disclosed the request when they suspended him in early January for what they called conduct detrimental to the team, and said at the time that they would work to accommodate his trade request.

The NBA trade deadline is February 6.

Butler was banished for seven games earlier this month, it cost him about $2.4 million in salary. Butler returned last week and played in each of Miami’s last three games, averaging 13.0 points in 29.3 minutes.

The Heat left for Milwaukee around 2:15 pm on Wednesday. That departure time is earlier than Miami departs for most of its trips, and it’s unclear if that was a factor for Butler.

The dates of the scheduled games on this trip to the Heat coincide with a padel tournament in Miami, where Butler is listed as honorary president and co-captain. Butler’s coffee company, Big Face, is also involved in the event. But it is not known if Butler had planned to attend the event in Miami and if that had anything to do with him missing his flight to Milwaukee.

Butler’s expected split with the Heat has been brewing for weeks, if not months. The primary issue that caused the breakdown in the relationship was money; he’s eligible for a two-year, $113 million extension, and the Heat have never offered such a deal, largely because he’s missed about 25% of the team’s games since arriving in 2019.

There were other factors as well. Butler has made no secret of his dissatisfaction with his new role in the Heat’s offense. In the last three games, he didn’t participate in his usual way during the introduction of the Heat starters, and at times sat alone during timeouts until he participated in the huddle that happened around the bench.

“Everybody said a lot, except me, to tell you the truth,” Butler said after the first game back from his suspension. “We’ll let the people talk… The whole truth will come out.”

The latest chapter in the Butler-Heath saga comes one day after Phoenix struck a deal with Utah to acquire three first-round draft picks that the Suns are expected to use as pieces in a second trade — possibly one that will land them Butler. Such a deal for Butler would be complicated for the Suns and would likely involve at least three and possibly more teams to make all the pieces fall into place.

Butler’s trade watch has been going on for weeks, and his hair color at some December games coincidentally matched the primary colors of Phoenix, Dallas, Golden State and Houston — the four teams most prominently mentioned as potential Miami trade partners.

And for Tuesday’s game against Portland, Butler wore orange shoes – perfectly matching the Suns’ color scheme.

Associated Press reports.

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