Miami Heat star wing Jimmy Butler has been the subject of trade rumors since their season came to an end in the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the hands of the Boston Celtics.
Butler, 34, is set to enter the final year of his contract at a value of $48.80 million. While he does has an option worth $52.4 million in 2025-26, that’s certainly to be declined.
The backdrop here is Butler being eligible for a two-year, $113 million contract extension this summer. For pretty much the entire spring, reports indicated that Miami was not willing to dole that out to a wing entering his Age-35 season and who has been injured-plagued as of late. Hence, the aforementioned trade rumors.
We now have more on this situation courtesy of The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The NBA insider reported on Wednesday that Butler will not be signing an extension with the Heat or any other team this summer. Rather, he plans on playing out the final year of his contract in South Beach and hit NBA free agency next summer.
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Jimmy Butler taking a chance on himself
That’s the biggest takeaway here. Other teams were willing to trade for Butler and offer him a two-year extension. Obviously, he’s decided to bank on himself moving forward.
It’s somewhat of a risk. Butler has not played in more than 65 games in a single season since he was a member of the Chicago Bulls back in 2016-17.
- Jimmy Butler stats (2023-24): 20.8 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 5.0 APG, 50% shooting
As for Miami, the team is now running it back with Butler and the recently-extended Bam Adebayo after a first-round exit in the NBA Playoffs.
The expectation is that front office head Pat Riley will now do what he can to find another star via a trade this summer.