If Jimmy Butler wants to be traded, the Miami Heat have no intention of making that happen.
Heat President Pat Riley spoke up on Thursday to address trade rumors, making it clear that the team has no plans to trade Butler. This indicates that if necessary, the team would prefer to let Butler leave as a free agent rather than trade him for assets.
“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches,” Riley said in a statement released by the team. “Therefore, we will make it clear — we are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
The Heat played in Orlando on Thursday, but Butler did not travel with the team the previous night. His plans for future games are uncertain.
Butler has not requested a trade, but ESPN reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that the six-time All-Star wants a trade before the February 6 deadline and is open to joining teams like Phoenix, Golden State, Houston, and Dallas.
“You have to compartmentalize in this business,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday during the team’s morning shootaround in Orlando. “We want Jimmy here. There’s no ifs, ands, or buts about it. And it’s just unfortunate that you have to control or deal with a lot of the noise on the outside.”
Butler has contributed to the noise himself.
The teams he reportedly prefers have colors like orange, yellow, red, and blue, which match the shades of his hair in recent weeks.
“I actually like it,” Butler said earlier this month when asked about being linked to trade talks and speculation. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there’s such a thing as bad publicity — to a point.”
If Miami does not trade Butler, it risks losing him for nothing as a free agent next summer. He’s earning $49 million this season and has a player option for $52 million next season.
Riley’s comments are the latest in a long-running situation about Butler’s future with the Heat, which gained more attention in May when Riley was unsure about offering Butler an extension over the summer.
Butler is eligible for an extension that would guarantee him $113 million for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. However, he is 35 years old and typically misses about one out of every four games with the Heat.
“That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night,” Riley said in May. “That’s the truth.”
Butler sprained his ankle in Miami’s loss to Oklahoma City on Friday but missed the rest of that game and the following two Heat games — at Orlando on Saturday and against Brooklyn on Monday — due to illness, not the ankle injury.
Butler has been key in helping Miami reach the NBA Finals twice during his time with the Heat. This season, he is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists.
