As Jimmy Butler’s suspension from the Miami Heat draws to a close, his outside options appear to be dwindling.
Veteran NBA writer Marc Stein reported to Substack on Sunday that one rumored suitor does not plan to pursue the Heat star Butler in free agency this offseason — the Brooklyn Nets. Stein also notes that the Nets “are not locked into the idea” of trading for a superstar this offseason either.
That matters a lot for Butler because he loses major leverage over the Heat here in his efforts to force a trade ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline. Butler has been said to be interested in playing for Brooklyn, and the Nets are one of the precious few teams in the league with the ability to potentially extend Butler a max contract offer this summer.
With the Nets now seemingly out of the mix, the threat of Butler leaving the Heat in free agency for nothing is probably no longer there. That means that Miami doesn’t need to panic-trade him right now for 70 cents on the dollar and can hold onto him through the offseason. The Heat can wait for Butler to pick up his $52.4 million player option and go back to the drawing board for a sign-and-trade that would net them more assets for Butler than they might get right now (since Butler would have a full year left on his contract with a new team instead of just a few months).
Of course, the six-time All-Star Butler can always throw a wrench into Miami’s plans by taking a discount as a free agent to just leave anyway. But considering that he is now 35 years old and that money was a central reason why his relationship with the Heat broke down in the first place, that seems like an unlikely outcome at this point.
