Jimmy Butler Suspended Indefinitely By Heat After Walking Out Of Shootaround

[Heat_team02]

End Game Headline: "The Miami Heat Release Jimmy Butler"

[Pickled Prunes]

MIA didn't want to trade him at all. It blows my mind that someone being paid the maximum amount of money allowed, to play a game no less, would fail to honor their contract because they want more money promised 18 months from now. MIA shares no blame. Jimmy signed the contract... he needed to honor it. (Obviously too late for that now.)

It's hard to disagree with you. He signed a contract and he's being paid a ton of money. He should honor that. Miami might have wanted to explore a trade in the off-season, not now and the returns might not have appealed to them at all.

Still, the Knick fan in me wants to find a way to blame the heat for this in some way, and I can't help but wonder if they should have handled it better. Jimmy did get them a title and to the finals a 2nd time. He gave them a lot. Now they're eager to suspend him multiple games. I don't know that Miami comes out smelling like roses over this either. But I think their side is more understandable. I still think that a team should try to work things out with a player, especially a player that's given that team a lot.

Jimmy has never won a title, and what he did do in MIA, he did for himself. Players will hold up the name on their jersey, but as soon as they are traded they are holding up another name. Clearly, with the way he's trashing an entire season, Jimmy doesn't care about his teammates, his city, his organization or his fans. Everything is 100% about mo money, mo money, mo money!

I don't believe MIA is eager to suspend Jimmy or trade him. They want him to show up for work ready to contribute. They want to make the playoffs and have their pick convey. But they also don't want to pay him while he is actively working against them. Seems reasonable to me.

This is spoiled toddler behavior. In what walk of life does promising to be a pain in the arse get a contracted worker more money for longer; or get them transferred to an office with a better view? If the branch manager at your local Wells Fargo did this, no one would consider blaming upper management for not caving to their demands.

Everyone talks of "player empowerment", but who is empowering the other 16 guys on the roster? A year of their life is squandered because Jimmy wanted a max extension for when he's 37-39. He hasn't played more than 65 games since he was 27. He isn't worth it, not by a long shot. MIA did the right thing by not extending him. Jimmy just isn't self aware enough to see it.

[Luv those Knicks]

Jimmy has never won a title, and what he did do in MIA, he did for himself. Players will hold up the name on their jersey, but as soon as they are traded they are holding up another name. Clearly, with the way he's trashing an entire season, Jimmy doesn't care about his teammates, his city, his organization or his fans. Everything is 100% about mo money, mo money, mo money!

I don't believe MIA is eager to suspend Jimmy or trade him. They want him to show up for work ready to contribute. They want to make the playoffs and have their pick convey. But they also don't want to pay him while he is actively working against them. Seems reasonable to me.

This is spoiled toddler behavior. In what walk of life does promising to be a pain in the arse get a contracted worker more money for longer; or get them transferred to an office with a better view? If the branch manager at your local Wells Fargo did this, no one would consider blaming upper management for not caving to their demands.

Everyone talks of "player empowerment", but who is empowering the other 16 guys on the roster? A year of their life is squandered because Jimmy wanted a max extension for when he's 37-39. He hasn't played more than 65 games since he was 27. He isn't worth it, not by a long shot. MIA did the right thing by not extending him. Jimmy just isn't self aware enough to see it.

I was wrong about the title. My memory isn't what it used to be, but as for the rest of it, come on. You could say that everything Michael Jordan accomplished, he did for himself. That doesn't undo his 6 titles and being the best player of his era. Jimmy played his heart out for the heat for years. That's a fact and it doesn't matter if he did it for himself. What matters is what he did on the court and he did a lot for the Heat. That's what fans care about, a player giving his all.

Fans can get frustrated, understandably, when a player is overpaid and the decline begins, or if the player plays 30 games a season, like Joel Embiid. But players who play hard and help their team win are loved by the fans. That's why NY fans still love Sprewell, to this day.

But the past isn't the issue here, OK, it kind of us. Butler gave a lot to Miami and Miami paid him well, but Butler's contribution shouldn't be dismissed so easily. And I agree with you on Miami not extending him. That's a business decision and that's fine, but with that in mind, they should take his trade request with a bit more understanding.

That said, yes, Butler is behaving like a child, but I disagree with you on the Heat. They do seem to be making this much more public than they need to, and benching him, then suspending him indefinitely. I don't know. I still think it could have been handled differently and the Heat went with the most public and most punitive approach. That might be Pat Riley's ego behind that, but that's just a guess. Pat does have a jumbo jet sized ego.

On the one hand, it's not hard to understand the Heat's approach, but I do think they're being as pubic and as punitive as possible which isn't a great way to say goodbye to a guy who was their best player for the past 5 years.

I'm reminded of Melo's departure from Denver and Nugget fans still don't like him, but they got a good trade return. The Nuggets handled it well. Trades were a little easier to do in those days though.

But, let me be clear. Butler is behaving worse, but I don't think Miami is handling this in the best way possible.

[Pickled Prunes]

Jimmy has never won a title, and what he did do in MIA, he did for himself. Players will hold up the name on their jersey, but as soon as they are traded they are holding up another name. Clearly, with the way he's trashing an entire season, Jimmy doesn't care about his teammates, his city, his organization or his fans. Everything is 100% about mo money, mo money, mo money!

I don't believe MIA is eager to suspend Jimmy or trade him. They want him to show up for work ready to contribute. They want to make the playoffs and have their pick convey. But they also don't want to pay him while he is actively working against them. Seems reasonable to me.

This is spoiled toddler behavior. In what walk of life does promising to be a pain in the arse get a contracted worker more money for longer; or get them transferred to an office with a better view? If the branch manager at your local Wells Fargo did this, no one would consider blaming upper management for not caving to their demands.

Everyone talks of "player empowerment", but who is empowering the other 16 guys on the roster? A year of their life is squandered because Jimmy wanted a max extension for when he's 37-39. He hasn't played more than 65 games since he was 27. He isn't worth it, not by a long shot. MIA did the right thing by not extending him. Jimmy just isn't self aware enough to see it.

I was wrong about the title. My memory isn't what it used to be, but as for the rest of it, come on. You could say that everything Michael Jordan accomplished, he did for himself. That doesn't undo his 6 titles and being the best player of his era. Jimmy played his heart out for the heat for years. That's a fact and it doesn't matter if he did it for himself. What matters is what he did on the court and he did a lot for the Heat. That's what fans care about, a player giving his all.

Fans can get frustrated, understandably, when a player is overpaid and the decline begins, or if the player plays 30 games a season, like Joel Embiid. But players who play hard and help their team win are loved by the fans. That's why NY fans still love Sprewell, to this day.

But the past isn't the issue here, OK, it kind of us. Butler gave a lot to Miami and Miami paid him well, but Butler's contribution shouldn't be dismissed so easily. And I agree with you on Miami not extending him. That's a business decision and that's fine, but with that in mind, they should take his trade request with a bit more understanding.

That said, yes, Butler is behaving like a child, but I disagree with you on the Heat. They do seem to be making this much more public than they need to, and benching him, then suspending him indefinitely. I don't know. I still think it could have been handled differently and the Heat went with the most public and most punitive approach. That might be Pat Riley's ego behind that, but that's just a guess. Pat does have a jumbo jet sized ego.

On the one hand, it's not hard to understand the Heat's approach, but I do think they're being as pubic and as punitive as possible which isn't a great way to say goodbye to a guy who was their best player for the past 5 years.

I'm reminded of Melo's departure from Denver and Nugget fans still don't like him, but they got a good trade return. The Nuggets handled it well. Trades were a little easier to do in those days though.

But, let me be clear. Butler is behaving worse, but I don't think Miami is handling this in the best way possible.

I wasn't faulting Jimmy for playing for himself. I was saying that that is what all players do. This isn't an Isaiah Thomas situation, where he put his body on the line on an expiring deal, got hurt and then BOS didn't want to pay him while he recovered. This is a 35 yo player with a significant injury history and 18 months left on his contract. I'm sure that if he made the all-NBA team this season MIA would be willing to give him at least another year. They aren't trying to cheat him. Giving Jimmy a 3-year max extension would all but guarantee that MIA would not be going anywhere for the next 4 years. You talk about the Heat owing Jimmy something... don't they owe every player on that roster the opportunity to compete?

[Luv those Knicks]

I wasn't faulting Jimmy for playing for himself. I was saying that that is what all players do. This isn't an Isaiah Thomas situation, where he put his body on the line on an expiring deal, got hurt and then BOS didn't want to pay him while he recovered. This is a 35 yo player with a significant injury history and 18 months left on his contract. I'm sure that if he made the all-NBA team this season MIA would be willing to give him at least another year. They aren't trying to cheat him. Giving Jimmy a 3-year max extension would all but guarantee that MIA would not be going anywhere for the next 4 years. You talk about the Heat owing Jimmy something... don't they owe every player on that roster the opportunity to compete?

But now you're saying things I agree with. I agree with you that extending him wouldn't make sense. I already said that. I said it was a business decision and that was fine, but that they should have tried to make it work and tried to respect him, while he plays out his contract and tried to respect his request for a trade, at least, try to keep it quiet.

Miami hasn't done that, they're trying to make Butler look bad, which I don't think is a good way to treat a player who gave a lot to the team.

It's never easy when a player demands a trade. Miami is the only team that seems to be going out of their way to punish the player with long suspensions and benching. If you disagree with that, that's fine, but it's how I see it.

I never said Miami should extend him. Teams have to make salary decisions and sometimes those decisions are difficult, but teams have to do that to plan for the future, to rebuild, or reload or whatever.

But once the contract is signed, the team and player should both work together as much as possible.

Butler is obviously not doing that, but I think Miami isn't doing so well in that department either.

[Pickled Prunes]

I wasn't faulting Jimmy for playing for himself. I was saying that that is what all players do. This isn't an Isaiah Thomas situation, where he put his body on the line on an expiring deal, got hurt and then BOS didn't want to pay him while he recovered. This is a 35 yo player with a significant injury history and 18 months left on his contract. I'm sure that if he made the all-NBA team this season MIA would be willing to give him at least another year. They aren't trying to cheat him. Giving Jimmy a 3-year max extension would all but guarantee that MIA would not be going anywhere for the next 4 years. You talk about the Heat owing Jimmy something... don't they owe every player on that roster the opportunity to compete?

But now you're saying things I agree with. I agree with you that extending him wouldn't make sense. I already said that. I said it was a business decision and that was fine, but that they should have tried to make it work and tried to respect him, while he plays out his contract and tried to respect his request for a trade, at least, try to keep it quiet.

Miami hasn't done that, they're trying to make Butler look bad, which I don't think is a good way to treat a player who gave a lot to the team.

It's never easy when a player demands a trade. Miami is the only team that seems to be going out of their way to punish the player with long suspensions and benching. If you disagree with that, that's fine, but it's how I see it.

I never said Miami should extend him. Teams have to make salary decisions and sometimes those decisions are difficult, but teams have to do that to plan for the future, to rebuild, or reload or whatever.

But once the contract is signed, the team and player should both work together as much as possible.

Butler is obviously not doing that, but I think Miami isn't doing so well in that department either.

I don't think the narrative you are turning is based on what is really happening.

1) MIA want's to win and they have tried their best to build a roster capable of competing. The winning and the trips to the Finals were directly because of the team that MIA put together. Jimmy is a part of what they put together, but not the only part. All a player can ask for is a chance to compete. MIA gave that to Jimmy. In a perfect world, Jimmy would be as grateful for that opportunity as MIA has been for his work ethic.

2) MIA did not make this public, Jimmy did. If Jimmy and his agent kept their mouths shut, we probably wouldn't know this was happening.

3) Jimmy is intentionally violating the terms of his contract. He has openly said so and should be suspended without pay. That seems kind of obvious. Players get suspended for conduct detrimental all the time. The idea that the players have a right to sabotage their team, free from reprisals, until they get what they want... that's just lunacy. Jimmy is making "conduct detrimental" his life mission!

4) There is nothing in any players contract that suggests that they have any right to a trade request. MIA has $48m invested in Jimmy. Should they be expected to take pennies on the dollar because Jimmy didn't like the direction extension talks were going? I don't think so. Jimmy has options, he could opt out in three months or pick up his option for $50m. But while he's under contract, he needs to honor the contract or get suspended.

The reality is that teams build around their stars and when a star leaves, the team has to find a similar player or completely flip the roster. In this case, it is a team that took a chance on a troublemaker; believed in him, built a roster around him and took him to the finals... twice! With his actions, he has tanked his own value to the point that nobody is willing to make MIA a decent offer. MIA is under no obligation to swap Jimmy for Beal and some crap picks just because he's selfish.

5) (And most important.) MIA isn't making Jimmy look bad. Jimmy looked bad as he left each of his former teams as well. Really bad, actually. He's doing that all on his own.

[Luv those Knicks]

I guess we'll have to disagree on some of this. The Heat seem to be going for maximum punishment. That's not the call I would make.