Things are pretty weird for Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat right now. At last check, Butler — in his return to action from an illness — had a modest night with one especially wild shot attempt and did not play in the fourth quarter of the Heat’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. Erik Spoelstra cited the fact that he hadn’t played in a while, but decided to go with a different group of players down the stretch.
On Thursday, things were escalated further by Butler. First, in his postgame press conference, he expressed some serious skepticism about his future in Miami, expressing that he doesn’t think he can enjoy basketball as a member of the Heat.
“I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball, and wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon,” Butler said. “But, I wanna get my joy back. I’m happy here, off the court, but I wanna be back to somewhat dominant, I wanna hoop, and I wanna help this team win. Right now, I’m not doing that.”
When asked if he can get his joy back on the court in Miami, Butler quickly replied, “probably not.”
Not long after, Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that Butler is no longer looking for a trade to a specific team. After previous reporting indicated that Butler wanted to go to a contender, ESPN’s new report indicates he’s willing to cast a wider net now.
Butler does not plan to furnish the Heat with a list of favored destinations, sources told ESPN. He is open to playing anywhere other than Miami and feels he can make any team a contender — no matter where he is moved, sources said. He does plan to take part in all team activities and will plan to do whatever the Heat ask of him during this process, sources said.
Before this, Pat Riley announced that the Heat have no plans to trade Butler, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Miami lost to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday, 128-115, to fall to 17-15 in the East.