Jimmy Butler’s unusual absence from Heat continues

The Jimmy Butler-Miami Heat saga is taking another strange twist.

Miami announced on Friday that Butler will miss at least two more games for them — a back-to-back road set on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks and on Sunday against the Houston Rockets.

The six-time All-Star has not played for the Heat since exiting a Dec. 20 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first quarter because of a stomach illness. Butler also turned his ankle in the early going of that game before exiting. He then missed a Dec. 21 game against the Magic due to the illness and games on Dec. 23 against the Nets and Dec. 26 against the Magic due to what the Heat called “conditioning” reasons. Now Butler is set to miss another two games, bringing his total to five and counting.

For Butler, who will not even be traveling with the team on their weekend road trip, this comes amid widespread trade rumors circulating about him. On Christmas Day, a report emerged stating that Butler would prefer a trade from the Heat ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline. Miami president Pat Riley then came out with a public statement in an attempt to quash those rumors.

A five-game absence for Butler due to an illness right in the middle of all of the rumors will certainly raise a lot of eyebrows though. Butler and the Heat do both have incentive to preserve his value (Butler to increase the chances of a trade and the Heat to maximize a potential return package), so perhaps that is playing a factor here.