Source: Brennan Asplen / Getty
Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has informed the team that he wants a trade, saying that he’s looking to get “his joy back” playing basketball.
NBA star Jimmy Butler has officially informed the Miami Heat that he wants out. The star guard “indicated to the Heat he wants the team to trade him” according to reports, expressing that he is “open to playing anywhere other than Miami.” The news broke after Butler spoke candidly to the media after the Heat’s 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers at home on Thursday night (January 2). “I want to see me get my joy back for playing basketball,” he said to a reporter. “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. I want to help this team win and right now I’m not doing that.” When asked if that could happen in Miami, Butler responded, “Probably not.”
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The situation between Butler and the Heat has been brewing since last spring when team president Pat Riley announced that they would not extend the guard’s contract before the 2024-2025 season. Things were also soured when Butler, who missed the Heat’s first-round playoff series against the eventual champion Boston Celtics due to a knee injury, indicated that if he were healthy the team would’ve won. Riley gave a curt response to those comments at his end-of-season media session: “If you’re not on the court playing, you should keep your mouth shut.” It was reported that Butler’s team has consistently met with Riley and Heat owner Mickey Arison in the past few weeks to try to resolve the split with no success.
Sources also state that Butler has not provided a list of teams he wants to be traded to, feeling as if he’d make any team a contender. It was also revealed that he is willing to “do whatever the Heat ask of him” during the process before he is traded. Butler did not play the entire fourth quarter of the game against the Pacers, the second straight game this week where he was benched. He is in the final year of his contract, earning $49 million. He plans to decline his 2025-2026 player option to become a free agent in July.
