Heat’s Jimmy Butler doubles down on Pat Riley trade request

Adding to the drama between the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butlera new report has surfaced from ESPN’s Shams Charania that talks about a face-to-face meeting between the star and the team president Pat Riley. As it was rumors of offenses from Butler to the HeatCharania reports that the 35-year-old would tell Riley he wants to be traded and will not sign a new contract with the team.

Another interesting detail in the report is that Butler “intends to exercise his $52 million player option in the 2025-26 offseason alone.” as a trade maneuver, sources said. He is in the midst of a seven-game suspension as he is eligible to return to the team on Jan. 17 when the Heat host the Denver Nuggets.

Butler asked for a contract extension last offseason but the team was indecisive with doubts about the player’s availability. Riley would say this publicly during his season-ending press conference last May along with telling Butler to “keep his mouth shut” as the star boasted that Miami beat the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks if he was healthy in the playoffs.

Heat officials are meeting later this week to discuss the route with Butler

The Heat star would be “taken aback” with this comment from Riley according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald which was one part of what appears to be a broken relationship. Fast forward to the start of the new year in which the second leg returns from an illness that saw him miss 13 days, Butler would say he lost his “joy” playing basketball and answered “probably” no when asked if he could return to Miami.

This would lead to Heat suspends Butler for seven games due to “conduct detrimental to the team” as they also mentioned in the trade option survey. However, the suspension is coming to an end as the team has been on a six-game road trip with one game remaining before they return home on Friday, as Charania also mentions that officials will meet “later this week to discuss the best route” with player.

“Butler’s team-issued seven-game suspension from the Heat — for what it called “harmful conduct” — ends Thursday, when the Heat will be faced with finding a way forward for Butler, with options including a return to the roster or trade,” Charania said. Heat officials will meet later this week to discuss the best route to take with Butler, who requested a trade earlier this month, league sources said.

Heat ‘showed no urgency’ in trade talks for Jimmy Butler

If one aspect is clear about the trade speculation, it’s that the Heat didn’t find a deal they liked or were executed with to move away from a star like Butler. Charania would also note in his report that even the team “showed no urgency” in terms of talking to other teams and was “hesitant”.

“Hutt has been working with multiple teams on a Butler trade scenario and has received offers, but they have been reluctant to negotiate further, sources said,” Charania wrote. “Riley has shown no urgency in these talks as the trade deadline looms on Feb. 6, sources added.”

It seems like every day the drama between Virtue and Butler intensifies to a new degree like the other day from Jake Fisher who mentioned how some of the “transgressions” it involved skipping forward skirmishes and flying away from the team.

“Now Pat Riley’s office has shown it will no longer tolerate Butler’s freestyle, announcing to the world on Jan. 3 that the six-time NBA All-Star has been suspended for ‘conduct detrimental to the team,'” Fisher wrote. on the Stein line. “Among Butler’s transgressions, according to league sources, were multiple instances of Butler skipping morning scrimmages altogether and insisting on private flights separate from the Miami team charter.” Former Heat star Tim Hardaway Sr. told Sirius XM NBA Radio over the weekend that Riley sent a 10-page letter to the players association detailing Butler’s missteps.

Either way, Miami is currently 20-18, which puts them in seventh place in the Eastern Conference as they face the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night.