Jimmy Butler Fuels Trade Speculation by Admitting He's Not Happy With Heat

The Heat star directly addressed his future in Miami on Thursday night.

Butler is averaging 18.0 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game during the 2024-25 season. / Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Jimmy Butler has finally gone public to discuss his state of mind and made it clear he's not happy with the Miami Heat.

On Thursday night after the Indiana Pacers beat the Heat 128-115, Butler admitted basketball wasn't giving him joy and that he wanted to find it again. When asked if he could get that joy back in Miami, he said he didn't think so.

"What do I want to see happen? I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball," Butler said. "Wherever that may be, we'll find out here pretty soon, but I want to get my joy back. 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. But right now I'm not doing that."

When asked if he could get his joy back in Miami, Butler said, "Probably not."

Jimmy Butler with an extremely candid media session.

Said he wants his joy back on the court.

Asked if he can find that joy here, he replied "Probably not." pic.twitter.com/AwSLbstr4W

— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) January 3, 2025

Trade speculation about Butler has been swirling for months, and it has got so prevalent that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra had to address it. Heat president Pat Riley has said he won't trade Butler, but we'll see if that changes over the next few weeks with the Feb. 6 trade deadline quickly approaching.

On the season, Butler is averaging 18.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists in 31.0 minutes per game.

---

More of the Latest Around the NBA

feed