For the Miami Heat and Jimmy Butler, the latest bit of news about the future of this partnership has the feel of an employee who tells the boss they’re quitting just as the boss is ready to fire them. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Butler will not sign an extension with the Heat, or with any other team for that matter, this offseason, and is prepared to go into what might be the last year of his contract, leaving him open to free agency in the summer of 2025.
On the one hand, it is a big decision and removes a potential sticking point between Butler and the team. On the other hand, from the viewpoint of the Heat, it’s not such a big deal. They were not going to give Butler a hefty new extension, anyway.
Butler has two years and $100 million on his current contract. But the second year is at a $52 million player option, meaning he could play out the 2024-25 season in Miami and hit the free-agent market next summer. There was talk, too, that he would seek a trade if the Miami Heat would not commit to paying him now.
Butler will be 35 in September. By putting aside a potential demand for an extension, some of the trade chatter around Butler—who was linked to deals with the Warriors and Sixers—can now ease.
“His decision to play out next season commits him to Miami and clears up any notion of a trade demand due to the lack of an extension. Butler has an affinity for Miami and has wanted to stay with the Heat, league sources said,” Charania wrote.
Miami Heat Remaining Cost-Conscious
After leading the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in 2023 despite earning just the No. 8 seed in the East, Butler must try to bounce back from a disappointing season in 2023-24. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists, the fourth straight season he eclipsed the 20-5-5- plateau, but played only 60 games and failed to earn an All-Star spot for the second straight year.
Butler played only 60 games this year and injured his knee during the Heat’s play-in game before Miami faced the Celtics. He missed the entire series, which the Heat lost in five games.
Concerns about Butler’s age, health and price tag under a tough new set of NBA tax rules—the Heat have been careful about avoiding the tax in the past—made the prospect of Butler getting a new extension from the Heat or anyone else unlikely.
Jimmy Butler Drew Rebuke From Pat Riley
After the playoff loss, team president Pat Riley, generally a staunch Butler supporter, had a public rebuke of Butler that fueled speculation about the player’s long-term security with the team.
Riley rebuked Butler for trolling the Celtics and Knicks as they advanced in the playoffs, saying the teams would be at home if he had not been injured.
“For him to say that, I thought, ‘Is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious?’” Riley said in May. “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston, if you’re not on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut in your criticism of those teams.”
Riley insisted at the time that he had no plans to trade Butler. But he also was in no hurry to pay him more money.
“That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night,” Riley said. “That’s the truth. We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it. We don’t have to do it until 2025, actually.”
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