RealGM

Jimmy Butler has not requested a trade and would like to remain with the Miami Heat, but if they listen to offers he reportedly would have interest in a move to either the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors or Phoenix Suns. Butler's agent, Bernie Lee, criticized Shams Charania's reporting on the situation in a series of posts on X on Wednesday. While on ESPN's First Take on Thursday morning, Charania 

"I one thousand percent stand by my reporting," said Charania. "It is fully vetted. As a professional, that's what I do. That's what I get paid to do. That's what I'm going to do, report truthfully and accurately. That's what this is. Period."

Charania reiterated that Butler has not requested a trade from the Heat.

"He has not requested a trade as of yet," said Charania.

"From what I understand, I think Jimmy Butler's preference would be to sign an extension in Miami," added Brian Windhorst. "He had hoped to do that actually last summer, but Pat Riley came out at the end of last season and said that's not what the Heat are doing. And they still haven't made any progress on that. I think that's what he would like to do. I think he would like to stay there."

Butler can become a free agent this coming offseason, which gives him some level of control over the process. 

"This is just the beginning of what I think will be a lot of that you hear about Jimmy Butler in the coming days and weeks," added Windhorst.

Via Shams Charania, Brian Windhorst/ESPN

When you deny it this much usually means it's true. True for farts, true for trade rumours.

His preference would be to sign an extension near, at or above his current $$$... which is well above his on court production. I am sure if Jimmy was asking for 3yr/$90m the deal would already be done.

Pickled Prunes wrote:His preference would be to sign an extension near, at or above his current $$$... which is well above his on court production. I am sure if Jimmy was asking for 3yr/$90m the deal would already be done.

Exactly, a deal would have been if the contract numbers were favorable to heat. He has a player option for $52 million; there's no way he is giving that up. My guess is that he is looking for 3/$150 million, or 4/$180 million.

Any team would be crazy to give him that.

Jimmy Butler is past his prime - looking for that final big payday before he rides off into the sunset.

He had an amazing run with Miami - but at this stage in his career, he can not coast & then decide to turn the afterburner on & off come playoff time. Evident of Miami missing the playoffs after perennial runs at the Finals.

Likely GSW gets Jimmy Buckets - fits Steph's timeline - along the lines of :

GSW - Jimmy / + future protected first & second pick(s)

Miami - Kuminga / Wiggins / Melton

I don't know about the Jimmy being washed up narrative. Currently 4th in WS/48, 5th in offensive rating and 9th in PER, seems pretty good to me. He's a very efficient, heady player who I think has a few more high level seasons in him, as long as he's on a team with similarly high basketball IQ players. W's seem like a perfect landing spot.

njknicks wrote:Jimmy Butler is past his prime - looking for that final big payday before he rides off into the sunset.

He had an amazing run with Miami - but at this stage in his career, he can not coast & then decide to turn the afterburner on & off come playoff time. Evident of Miami missing the playoffs after perennial runs at the Finals.

Likely GSW gets Jimmy Buckets - fits Steph's timeline - along the lines of :

GSW - Jimmy / + future protected first & second pick(s)

Miami - Kuminga / Wiggins / Melton

I think that makes GSW worse. Here are Wiggins' and Butler's stats PER 36: PTS, REB, AST, STL, 3P%.

AW- 22/6/3/1.2/43%
JB- 21/6/5/1.3/36%

It's almost a wash. Butler brings tenacity but Wiggins is a better shooter. I would rather have Butler in a playoff series... but Wiggins has that ring and he played well to earn it. I would also be willing to bet that Wiggins takes a step forward under Spoelstra and Butler takes a step back under Kerr... and we haven't even talked about the ludicrousness of Butler's contract.

Summary: Melton is out for the season but still has value as cap relief. Kuminga is a future asset and could very well meet his potential in MIA, and Wiggins will replace much of Butler's production at about half the price. Meanwhile Butler is drastically overpaid for his age and production... and you think GSW would be sending out picks in that deal? Yes, Butler is the best player in that trade, but it seems unlikely.