Jimmy Butler understands that there are many questions about his future with the Miami Heat. He could get traded, leave as a free agent next summer, choose to exercise a $52.4 million option to stay with the Heat, or even sign a new contract.
“Who knows?” Butler said, showing that even he doesn’t have the answers.
The Heat forward, who has led the team to two NBA Finals appearances, addressed trade rumors on Wednesday. After practice, he told reporters that he doesn’t mind being the subject of speculation.
Earlier in the week, ESPN reported that the Heat are open to receiving trade offers. This wouldn’t be surprising due to Butler’s contract situation and the possibility that he could leave the team next summer without the Heat getting anything in return.
“I actually like it,” Butler said. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there’s such a thing as bad publicity — to a point.”
The conversation about Butler’s future in Miami has been going on for a while now. The Heat could have offered him an extension last summer, but they didn’t, likely due to several reasons, including Butler’s age (he’s 35) and the fact that he missed 26% of Miami’s games over his first five seasons with the team.
Despite this, Butler still has a big impact on the game. Miami is 8-2 this season when he scores at least 18 points. The Heat are also no strangers to trade rumors; Tyler Herro has been involved in trade talk every summer for the past three years.
Herro is still with the team, playing at an All-Star level, and was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. “Any other narrative, I don’t care. Nobody should because most of this stuff has just been all a bunch of gibberish,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said this week.
Butler said on Wednesday that money isn’t his top concern at this point. He didn’t directly say that he wants to stay in Miami but added, “I’m pretty sure y’all are going to get a report that’s going to say otherwise anyways, so there’s no sense in me answering that question.” He’s not focused on extensions or trades.
“My kids matter, my happiness matters, my well-being matters and my family matters,” Butler said. “Right now, it’s all about competing, staying healthy, playing some great basketball. I think I’ve done that so far, so we’ll see what we got.”
There has been social media chatter recently, with some people joking that Butler’s changing hair colors — sometimes yellow, blue, or red — match the teams he’s being linked to in trade rumors, like Golden State, Dallas, and Houston.
However, he has consistently stated since joining the Heat that his goal is to bring another championship to the team, and that goal has not changed.
“We’re going to continue to win and I’m proud of the guys,” Butler said. “You see everybody out here working and we know what we’re capable of.”
