MIAMI – Despite swirling trade rumors, Miami Heat president Pat Riley told reporters Thursday that the team has no plans to trade forward Jimmy Butler.
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“We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches,” Riley said in a statement posted on the team’s official social media. “Therefore, we will make it clear - We are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
Riley’s statement comes a day after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Butler asked to be traded ahead of February’s trade deadline.
“You have to compartmentalize in this business,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Thursday at the team’s morning shootaround in Orlando. “We want Jimmy here. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. And it’s just unfortunate that you have to control or deal with a lot of the noise on the outside.”
Butler, to be fair, has fueled some of the noise.
The primary colors of his reportedly preferred teams include orange, yellow, red and blue. Butler’s hair, perhaps not coincidentally, has been tinged in those colors at times in recent weeks.
“I actually like it,” Butler said earlier this month when asked about being linked to trade talks and speculation. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there’s such a thing as bad publicity — to a point.”
Miami, if it doesn’t trade Butler, would run the risk of potentially losing him for nothing as a free agent next summer. He’s making $49 million this season and has a player option for $52 million next season.
Butler, 35, is averaging 18.5 points per game, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists this season. He is a six-time NBA All-Star and two-time Eastern Conference champion.
The Heat are 14-13 this season and have been a Play-In Tournament team in each of the past two seasons, including when they made an unexpected 2023 NBA Finals run with Butler at the helm as an 8-seed before losing in five games to the Denver Nuggets.
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Statement from Pat Riley
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 26, 2024
"We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear - We are not trading Jimmy Butler."
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