Jimmy Butler may not be entering his final weeks as a member of the Miami Heat after all.
Bobby Marks of ESPN reported Monday that there is a “growing consensus” that the Heat will not trade away their All-Star forward Butler ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline. Marks notes that, barring Butler becoming a distraction or Miami getting a trade offer that they cannot turn down, he will likely remain with the Heat past the deadline.
The six-time All-Star Butler, who has been with the Heat since 2019 and led them to two separate NBA Finals appearances, can become a free agent over the summer. With Miami failing to reach a contract extension with Butler to this point, a trade has become an increasingly plausible possibility, and several big-name suitors have emerged as potential landing spots.
But any such trade of Butler would likely involve the Heat having to take back a bad contract (such as Bradley Beal from Phoenix or Andrew Wiggins from Golden State) to match salaries. Miami is under no obligation to do so, so they may be trying for a game of brinksmanship with Butler in holding him through the trade deadline and then gambling that he cannot leave in the summer without their help in a sign-and-trade that would return assets.
That might not be a bad bet since Butler has a $52.4 million player option for next season (a perfect sign-and-trade avenue if he opts in) and cannot realistically get a big payday from a contender through straight free agency as a soon-to-be-36-year-old on the decline. The risk for the Heat however would be the possibility of Butler leaving for a non-competitive team with enough cap space to pay him straight up. We have already heard rumors that there is one such team Butler may be interested in.
