Miami, FL
Jimmy Butler reportedly tells Miami Heat he wants a trade
“I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be.”
With that postgame comment Thursday, Miami’s Jimmy Butler all but confirmed a report that he has asked the Heat for a trade, a story broken by Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants the team to trade him, league sources told ESPN. 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 believes he can make any team a contender — no matter where he is moved. He does plan to take part in all team activities and do whatever the Heat ask of him during this process, sources said.
Butler’s postgame comments echoed that sentiment.
“I want to see me getting my joy back playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon,” Butler said. “I’m happy here off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant, I want to hoop and I want to help this team win, and right now I’m not doing it.”
When asked if he can get his joy back on the court with the Heat, Butler responded: “Probably not.”
Butler trade rumors have been flying around the NBA since he didn’t get a contract extension with the Heat last summer (while Bam Adebayo did at three years, $165.8 million). The rumors reached the point that Heat President Pat Riley tried to squash them.
Statement from Pat Riley
“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 26, 2024
That did not stop the speculation, although the vibe among league executives at the NBA’s G-League Showcase last month was that it might be summer before Butler was traded, just because a deal that would satisfy Miami is hard to construct. Because Miami is already over the first apron of the luxury tax, it is not allowed to take back $1 more in a trade than it sends out — and most of the teams interested in Butler are in the same situation. Any Butler trade likely involves the Detroit Pistons as a third team, the one team with cap space heading into the trade deadline, meaning they can take on a mid-level exception-sized contract to facilitate a trade.
It’s still not easy to make work. Phoenix is known to have an interest in Butler, but the only way to make that trade work is to send Bradley Beal to Miami. Beal has two years and $100.8 million left on his contract after this season. Do the Heat want to take on a player not as good as Butler right now making that kind of money? The Warriors are known to have interest as they search for a star to put next to Stephen Curry, but the only way to make a Miami/Golden State trade work is a four-or-five-for-one trade with the Warriors such as the Warriors sending out Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, and Kyle Anderson (there likely would be draft picks in mix, also). How high are the Heat on Kuminga, and do they want to have to let go of players on their roster to make this deal work?
Butler’s people saying they are open to a trade to any team tries to open the door to other teams. However, whoever trades for Butler will have to re-sign him or extend him — Butler has a $52.4 million player option and could theoretically walk away from that money and be a free agent (the more likely scenario is he opts into that final year and gets a two-year extension off that, maybe at a lower number than he has been making).
Butler, 35, is still a force on the court most nights, averaging 18 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game this season. He is known as a two-way playoff performer who can help a lot of teams, but how many teams want to get into the Jimmy Butler business for multiple years?
We’re going to find out now that Butler and his camp have tried to crank up the pressure to get a trade done. However, Miami will not settle. Some team is going to have to step up with a quality offer to get a deal done, this is no fire sale.
An investigation is underway at a northwest Miami-Dade apartment complex after the sheriff’s office said a man was shot by his girlfriend after a “heated dispute” early Wednesday morning.
Few details have been released, but the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said the incident took place at an apartment complex located off Northwest 7th Avenue.
The sheriff’s office said that a man became involved in a “heated dispute” with his girlfriend, and she shot him in the right arm.
He was rushed to a hospital by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue in critical condition.
The woman is in custody.
The identities of those who were involved have not yet been released.
No other information was available.
Game date, time and location: Tuesday, Mar. 3, 7:30 p.m. EST, Kaseya Center, Miami, Florida
TV: FanDuel Sports Network Sun, YES Network (Brooklyn)
Radio: 104.3 FM (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale), ESPN 106.3 FM, (West Palm Beach), FOX Sports Radio 105.9 FM (Ft. Myers/Naples), 1450 AM (Suart), 97.7 FM (Florida Keys), WAQI 710 AM (Spanish-language broadcast, South Florida), WFAN 101.9 FM/660 AM (Brooklyn)
VITALS: The Miami Heat (32-29) and Brooklyn Nets (15-45) meet for the second of three regular season matchups. Earlier this season, Miami recorded a, 106-95, win in Brooklyn on December 18 and has now won four of the last five overall against the Nets.
It also marks the first of consecutive games against Brooklyn with the teams facing each other again on Thursday. The Heat are 83-61 all-time versus the Nets during the regular season, including 44-26 in home games and 39-35 in road games.
PROJECTED STARTERS
HEAT
G Davion Mitchell
G Tyler Herro
C Bam Adebayo
F Pelle Larsson
F Andrew Wiggins
NETS
G Nolan Traore
G Terance Mann
C Nic Claxton
F Michael Porter Jr.
F Noah Clowney
INJURY REPORT
HEAT
Davion Mitchell: Questionable – Shoulder
Norman Powell: Out – Groin
Nikola Jovic: Out – Back
Trevor Keels: Available – G League
Jahmir Young: Available – G League
Vlad Goldin: Available – G League
Terry Rozier: Out – Not with team
NETS
Nic Claxton: Probable – Thumb
Egor Demin: Out – Foot
QUOTABLE
Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra: “Regardless of the scheme is, I always go back to that, it’s just about committing to doing hard things. We were really moving in the zone, taking away airspace and scrambling to challenge shots at the rim. In a lot of these losses in the last month we’ve just been giving up shots at the rim and threes.”
For more Miami Heat information and conversation, check out Off The Floor.
Alexander Toledo is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI and producer/co-host of the Five on the Floor podcast, covering the Heat and NBA. He can be reached at Twitter: @tropicalblanket
ORLANDO, Fla. — Lionel Messi scored twice in a four-goal second half, defender Telasco Segovia added a goal and two assists and defending champion Inter Miami CF rallied to beat Orlando City SC 4-2 on Sunday night, winning for the first time at Inter&Co Stadium.
Messi took a pass from Segovia and scored in the 57th minute to tie it 2-2, and Segovia scored unassisted in the 85th for the lead. Messi put the finishing touch on the victory when he scored off a free kick in the 90th.
“The victory belongs exclusively to the players,” Miami coach Javier Mascherano said after the game. “In the second half, they were a championship team. There were no tactics, nothing like that. There was heart, courage, possession, resilience, commitment. I think the team came out because they were champions last year.
“In the end, the players showed it. This victory is theirs.”
Messi’s first two goals of the season give him 52 in his first 55 regular-season MLS matches — 51 of them in his past 49 appearances. It also brought the reigning MLS MVP to 898 career goals scored, including 672 for Barcelona and 115 for Argentina.
“He’s the best player to ever play this sport. He’s a leader, and as a leader, he inspires others, but he also often needs to be inspired himself,” Mascherano said of Messi. “When he was driving forward, he had more attacking options, and with so many opportunities, he clearly has the ability to create chances like no one else, and that’s what allowed us to turn the game around.”
Marco Pašalić took a pass from Iván Angulo and scored in the 18th minute to give Orlando City a 1-0 lead. Pašalić has scored in four straight matches against Inter Miami.
Defender Griffin Dorsey set up Martín Ojeda for a goal six minutes later for a 2-0 advantage that stood through halftime.
Inter Miami cut it to 2-1 four minutes into the second half on Mateo Silvetti’s first career goal. Defenders Segovia and Facundo Mura had assists as the 20-year-old forward found the net in his fifth career appearance.
Segovia had eight goals and six assists as a rookie last season, while Mura collected his first assist in his first season.
Dayne St. Clair, the reigning goalkeeper of the year, turned away three shots — all in the second half of his second start with Inter Miami, but let in a soft goal for Orlando’s first.
Maxime Crépeau had four saves in his second start for Orlando City.
Teenager Colin Guske, 19, will miss Orlando City’s next match after the rookie picked up two yellow cards in his first start — the second one led to his exit in the 88th minute.
Inter Miami, which had never won in its previous nine trips to Orlando, was coming off a 3-0 road loss to LAFC.
Orlando City swept Inter Miami during the regular season last year and leads the all-time series 8-7-4.
Inter Miami plays D.C. United on Saturday at Audi Field. Orlando City is also on the road with a match against New York City FC.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
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