Heat's Jimmy Butler addresses trade speculation: 'It doesn't bother me one bit'

MIAMI — The trade speculation surrounding Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has grown louder this week, but Butler doesn’t mind.

“I actually like it,” Butler said following the Heat’s practice at Kaseya Center on Wednesday. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there’s such a thing as bad publicity to a point. But if somebody is talking about me getting traded, that’s a lot.”

Butler spoke to reporters just one day after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that “the Heat are open to listening to offers for Butler and making a deal if the proposal is right.”

Charania also reported that Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, has indicated in league circles that Butler is open to trade destinations such as the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors. Charania added that teams have been informed that Butler intends to decline the $52.4 million player option in his contract to become a free agent this upcoming offseason.

The Heat, which sometimes publicly denies trade reports, declined to comment on the ESPN report. Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, also declined to comment.

With most free agents who signed with teams this past offseason becoming eligible to be dealt on Sunday, it’s not a coincidence that trade rumors around the league have started to pick up in recent days. With the uncertainty surrounding Butler’s current contract situation, the expectation is his name will continue to be a prominent part of trade rumors in the coming weeks leading up to the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.

“It’s fine with me,” Butler said of the trade speculation. “It doesn’t bother me one bit and I do appreciate it. I appreciate going out there and hooping and I appreciate being efficient, being effective and helping my team win. I don’t ever take playing basketball for anybody for granted.”

While Charania reported that the Heat is now open to “listening” to trade offers for Butler, it’s important to note that Butler has not asked to be traded and the Heat is not aggressively shopping him.

If Butler opts out and becomes a free agent next offseason, he will be eligible to sign a four-year max contract projected to be worth about $243 million with the Heat or a max three-year contract worth $171 million elsewhere.

But Butler and the Heat don’t have to reach that point if they can agree to the two-year max contract extension worth about $113 million that he’s already eligible for. The Heat also has until June 30 to sign Butler to this extension, which would keep him in Miami through the 2026-27 season when he’ll be 37 years old.

When asked about his long-term future with the Heat, Butler said Wednesday: “Who knows?”

After the Heat declined to quickly give Butler a max extension this past summer, Butler decided to play this season out and become a free agent this upcoming summer. That remains his plan with the intention of signing a max contract with the Heat or another team this offseason, according to a league source.

“Not really,” Butler said when asked Wednesday if getting another max contract is his top priority. “My kids matter, my happiness matters, my well-being matters and my family matters. 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.”

Does Butler still hope to spend the rest of his NBA career with the Heat?

“I don’t know,” said Butler, who is in the middle of his sixth season with the Heat. “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.”

Butler has averaged 19 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 55.7 percent from the field this season. He has played in 17 of the Heat’s first 22 games, missing four because of a sprained right ankle and one because of right knee soreness.

At 35 years old, Butler remains the driving force behind much of the Heat’s success. He leads the Heat in most advanced metrics this season, including estimated plus/minus, win shares and box plus/minus.

The Heat is 7-2 when Butler records a usage rate (an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while on the court) of more than 20 percent and holds a 3-5 record when his usage rate doesn’t cross 20 percent in games that he has played in this season.

“I feel like we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” said Butler, who has helped lead the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals appearances and two NBA Finals appearances since joining the team during the 2019 offseason. “We’ve won a couple in a row. I’m not worried about an extension. We’ll handle all of that whenever it gets here and take it day by day. The more articles that come out, the more y’all are going to ask me questions about it. So keep the articles coming.”

The Heat (12-10) is riding a three-game winning streak entering Thursday’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors (7-15) at Kaseya Center (7:30 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network Sun).

“I mean, it’s always going to be a championship,” Butler said of the potential of this current Heat roster. “Tyler [Herro] is playing at an extremely high level, Bam [Adebayo] is doing what Bam does, we got the young fellas that are hooping and gaining more confidence. So we’re rolling. We’re going to continue to win and I’m proud of the guys. You see everybody out here working and we know what we’re capable of.”

Injury report

The only Heat players who were held out of Wednesday’s practice were Pelle Larsson (sprained right ankle) and Josh Richardson (right heel inflammation).

For Thursday’s matchup against the Raptors, the Heat ruled out Josh Christopher and Richardson.

Richardson received an injection in his injured heel and will be re-evaluated in one week.

Larsson, who has missed the last two games with his ankle injury, is listed as doubtful for Thursday’s contest. Butler is probable to play despite lingering right knee soreness.

The Raptors ruled out Scottie Barnes (right ankle sprain), Bruce Brown (return to competition reconditioning), Ulrich Chomche (G League) and Immanuel Quickley (partial UCL tear in left elbow) for Thursday’s game in Miami.

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