The six-time All-Star is eligible to return from suspension Friday, but the tension surrounding the team remains palpable, writes Mark Medina.
If history is an indicator, Jimmy Butler is gone. Perhaps not in the moment, perhaps not this month, but when it comes to suspensions and sanctions issued during the Pat Riley era, a parting is
The defeat to the Lakers also marked the first game back by Heat center Bam Adebayo as he missed the Clippers game because of a lower back contusion. He suffered the injury in the win over the Portland Trail Blazers last Saturday after a bad fall right on the back which made him inactive for the first time this season.
Tensions are high, but Butler can bolster his own market by playing well for Miami when his suspension ends after Wednesday's game in LA.
Sports Illustrated has proposed a three-team Jimmy Butler trade that would see the Heat star heading to Los Angeles.
The Heat have two games left on their six-game West Coast trip, both scheduled in Los Angeles after a 3-1 start, before being faced with the prospect of reinstating Butler from suspension. The
Jimmy Butler might have stirred the pot with him liking the Kevin Love's now viral Instagram post. Things seem to go South in Miami.
If the Heat don't move Jimmy Butler by the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline, he'd be better off picking up his player option to facilitate a trade this offseason.
With Wednesday night’s 117-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers marking the end of the Heat’s six-game West Coast trip and the end of Butler’s team-issued seven-game suspension, he’s eligible to return when the Heat opens a three-game homestand on Friday against the Denver Nuggets (8 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun).
Jimmy Butler is expected to play for Miami again Friday when it hosts the Denver Nuggets, a game that would be his first since the Heat confirmed that he wants a trade and that they are trying to accommodate that request.
In the past, Riley has occasionally gotten into it with his superstars near the end of their Miami tenures. He had contract tensions with Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, which prompted Wade's stunning departure to his hometown Chicago Bulls in free agency during the summer of 2016.