
Jan 2, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) looks on from the bench during the second half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
For the third time this season, the Miami Heat have suspended their star, Jimmy Butler. Butler would first be suspended in early January, serving a seven-game suspension. He would be suspended for two more games following a missed flight. Earlier this week, Butler would be suspended a third time and would be suspended indefinitely while the team looks for a trade for the disgruntled star.
In a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania, Butler would walk out from the Heat’s shootaround on Monday morning after learning that the team would be starting Haywood Highsmith and having him come off the bench. In a pair of tweets by the organization, the Miami Heat would say the following:
“The Miami HEAT are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games. (1/2)”
“(2/2) The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard for team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services. This includes walking out of practice earlier today.”
Due to the timing and length of the suspension, Butler will be out through the 2025 trade deadline on February 6th. Heat President Pat Riley has been the main adversary of Jimmy Butler in the entire situation, going back to his criticisms of Butler’s comments following the team’s first-round exit in the 2024 playoffs.
Butler has been linked to several teams notably the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors, but no deals have been made due to Miami’s high asking price for Butler and Bradley Beal waiving his no-trade clause in Phoenix. With the Butler trade saga dominating the first half of the 2024-25 NBA season, neither side has looked good.
For Butler, this is a repeat of every stop he’s had in his 15-year career. From his tenuous relationship with Chicago Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg to his issues with Andrew Wiggins and Karl-Anthony Towns in Minnesota to issues with Tobias Harris and head coach Brett Brown in Philadelphia to now having feuding with Pat Riley and having altercations with several people within the Miami Heat organization. Now many see Butler as the true cause of every issue he’s been a part of in his career thus far.
For the Miami Heat and more specifically Heat President Pat Riley, they have not looked much better. From Riley’s original comments in May to the team tweeting that the organization had no intention of trading Butler to the organization saying they were waiting to trade Butler to maximize the return on the trade to now suspending Butler on three separate occasions in the span of a month, many have criticized Riley for acting petty throughout this saga.
While the Butler/Heat saga is one of many instances of a star requesting a trade, there has not been a trade saga of a star that has been as public as Butler’s. With the trade deadline just under a week away, there are only two ways things could go.
Miami can either accept one of the offers they have received for Butler and move on from the six-time All-Star or if they cannot find an adequate deal for Butler, they will keep the star through the rest of the 2024-25 season and let him walk in free agency for nothing. Regardless of what happens on or prior to February 6th, the reputations of Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat organization have been severely altered going forward.
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