The Miami Heat are in no way forced to part ways with veteran star Jimmy Butler at February’s trade deadline.

Still, it appears the route Miami’s front office is eager to take. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Saturday evening the Heat are looking to move the six-time All-Star forward “as soon as possible.”

“This is a clear-cut end to the Butler-Heat relationship,” Charania began on SportsCenter. “And as stunning as the seven-game suspension was around the league, more than anything, this was an avenue for the Heat to keep Jimmy Butler away from the team over these next couple of weeks. The situation around the Heat with Jimmy Butler there had become unmanageable.”

It seems the Heat partially suspended Butler in an attempt to mediate tension in the locker room. Without the 35-year-old present, the hope is the rest of the team can put their full focus on winning games.

“From my understanding, the goal right now is to move Butler as soon as possible,” Charania said. “And I’m told the Heat have spoken with teams as of Friday about Butler trades, and they will continue to engage with teams.”

Butler will finish serving his suspension when the Heat face the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 17. However, team president Pat Riley and company clearly hope a trade is completed by then.

MORE HEAT NEWS

NBA MVP ‘Pushed’ For His Team To Acquire Jimmy Butler Yet Heat Refused To Engage

Heat Acquire Ideal $163 Million All-Star In Proposed Blockbuster With Warriors, Kings

Anthony Pasciolla works as a contributing writer to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at ampasciolla@gmail.com or follow him on X @AnthonyPasci.

Associated Press

Atlanta Hawks (18-16, seventh in the Eastern Conference) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (19-15, seventh in the Western Conference)

Inglewood, California; Saturday, 10:30 p.m. EST

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Clippers -6; over/under is 229

BOTTOM LINE: James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers take on Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in a non-conference matchup.

The Clippers are 11-6 on their home court. Los Angeles is eighth in the Western Conference with 15.6 fast break points per game led by Norman Powell averaging 4.6.

The Hawks have gone 8-10 away from home. Atlanta is second in the Eastern Conference with 17.8 fast break points per game led by Jalen Johnson averaging 3.6.

The Clippers are shooting 46.5% from the field this season, 0.9 percentage points lower than the 47.4% the Hawks allow to opponents. The Hawks average 12.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.1 more makes per game than the Clippers give up.

TOP PERFORMERS: Harden is averaging 21.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.5 steals for the Clippers.

Young is averaging 22.3 points and 12 assists for the Hawks.

LAST 10 GAMES: Clippers: 5-5, averaging 107.9 points, 41.0 rebounds, 22.8 assists, 10.4 steals and 4.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 110.5 points per game.

Hawks: 5-4, averaging 118.4 points, 44.8 rebounds, 29.0 assists, 10.6 steals and 5.4 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.3 points.

INJURIES: Clippers: Terance Mann: day to day (finger), James Harden: day to day (groin), Kawhi Leonard: day to day (knee), P.J. Tucker: out (personal).

Hawks: Kobe Bufkin: out for season (shoulder), Larry Nance Jr.: out (hand), Cody Zeller: day to day (personal).

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.