Inside The Heat

NBA Insider Insists Jimmy Butler Situation With Miami Heat Is About Money

Shandel Richardson

Jan 2, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) warms-up before the game against the Indiana Pacers at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Jan 2, 2025; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler (22) warms-up before the game against the Indiana Pacers at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Miami Heat are making plans to trade unhappy forward Jimmy Butler before the trade deadline.

Ethan Skolnick of Five Reasons Sports Network feels this move is strictly based on finances. Skolnick said it has nothing to do with Butler's role.

"This is really about money," Skolnick said. "That's the thing I can tell you because I did talk to some Heat sources today. That's where they are. This doesn't have anything to do with role. There's no role in the Heat playbook."

This season, the Heat made things more about younger stars Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo. At 35, Butler is already past his prime. Despite this, Butler has still thrived in his role this season.

"If he didn't like his role this season, he had one of the most productive regular season games in his history against Detroit, what was it two weeks ago, playing the same role," Skolnick said.

HEAT SUSPEND STAR FOR SEVEN GAMES

The Heat and Jimmy Butler were inevitably headed for a divorce. As many couples do, they tried to patch things up and see how long things could last.

Now, we can’t even say Butler’s sleeping on the couch. Not after the Heat suspended him seven games and publicly reprimanded him for “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.”

“Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of the team,” the Heat said Friday night. “Jimmy Butler and his representatives have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”

In other words, the Heat just changed their relationship status to “it’s complicated” and created a dating profile. 

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here