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Jimmy Butler is on a quest to rediscover his joy on the basketball court. When asked if he can find that happiness in Miami, his response was blunt.
“Probably not,” he stated.
The dynamic between Butler and the Miami Heat, a subject of speculation for weeks, appears to be worsening. Following a 128-115 defeat to the Indiana Pacers, Butler managed only nine points and did not play a single second in the fourth quarter for the second game in a row. This pattern also occurred during a win over the New Orleans Pelicans just the day before.
“What do I want to see happen? I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball,” Butler expressed. “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 somewhere dominant. I want to hoop and help this team win. Right now, I’m not doing that.”
While Butler has not formally requested a trade, reports from ESPN indicate that the six-time All-Star is “open to playing anywhere other than Miami.” In response, the Heat took the unusual step of publicly stating that they will not trade him.
Butler’s recent performance has been uncharacteristic. He spent significant time stationed in the corner during offensive plays, taking only six shots in 27 minutes against Indiana, and just five shots the previous night. Heat coach Erik Spoelstra even tried to revitalize Butler’s game by assigning him point guard duties for parts of the third quarter, but the strategy fell flat.
“Obviously he’s frustrated, because he’s standing on the corner,” commented Heat captain Bam Adebayo. “He’s got a lot of things going on in his corner. For us, we keep the main thing the main thing like our coach always tells us. We play to win, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Butler maintained that he felt focused and fulfilled his role during Thursday’s game, saying, “or at least, what my job is now.”
“That’s not what I’m used to being,” Butler reflected. “I haven’t been that since my first, second, third year in the league, where I just went out there and played defense. I competed. I guarded. That’s what I’m doing now.”
Butler was instrumental in leading two Heat teams to the NBA Finals. He was eligible for a two-year, $113 million extension last summer, but Miami has yet to extend a new offer to the 35-year-old. Butler has a $52 million player option for the next season or could opt for free agency this summer, depending on his status with the team after the trade deadline.
Coach Spoelstra has repeatedly expressed his desire to keep Butler in Miami, attributing Butler’s recent low scoring to a nearly two-week absence due to illness. Wednesday marked Butler’s return after that hiatus.
“It’s about being aggressive,” Spoelstra stated before Butler’s postgame remarks. “We’ve got to figure it out. I’ll figure it out. He’s got to figure it out, too. We’ve got to figure it out.”
[Jimmy Butler next team odds: Will star guard remain in Miami past trade deadline?]
Butler reaffirmed his commitment to competing, regardless of his scoring output.
“I’m going out there to compete to win, either way, whether I score nine points or 29 points,” Butler declared. “I will compete. That’s one thing that I will say. You won’t say that I’m out there not playing hard. It may look like that because my usage is down and I don’t shoot the ball a lot, but we won’t sit here and say I don’t play hard.”
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