Jimmy Butler Demands Trade in Meeting with Heat President Pat Riley

Miami: So, Jimmy Butler is really pushing to leave the Heat. He had a sit-down with Pat Riley last week and made it clear he wants out. According to ESPN, he told Riley he won’t be signing an extension and plans to use his $52 million player option for 2025-26 just to facilitate a trade.

This whole situation has been brewing for a while now. After five seasons and two trips to the NBA Finals, Butler’s had enough. He even mentioned earlier this month that he wanted to leave South Beach, especially with all the trade rumors swirling around.

Right now, he’s serving a seven-game suspension for some conduct issues, which isn’t helping his case. Last week, he seemed to throw some shade at the Heat when he praised an employee at his coffee shop, saying, “We build you up, we don’t break you down.”

Butler’s had his fair share of messy exits from teams before, like in Chicago, Minnesota, and Philadelphia. This season, he’s played 22 games, averaging 17.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.7 assists. But injuries have kept him from playing more than 60 games in a season since joining Miami.

As of now, the Heat are sitting at 20-18, tied for seventh in the Eastern Conference. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out.