According to the scenario put forth by other executives, Jimmy Butler would demand a max extension of roughly $113 million from Miami. In exchange, he would forfeit his player option for the 2025–2026 season, which would tie him in for three seasons at a salary of $161.8 million. Butler reaches 35 before the next season and hasn’t played 65 games in a season since joining the Heat, so Miami says it won’t be discussing a contract until the summer of 2019. When Butler isn’t satisfied with his deal, he has a history of making things very uncomfortable for the team.
Pat Riley, the president of the Heat and chief decision-maker, was asked if the team would think about dealing Butler this summer in light of this.
“No.”
That leaves little opportunity for discussion.
Riley spent a significant portion of his 40-minute Monday media appearance on Butler. Butler didn’t seem very excited about the prospect of having his contract extended when questioned about it.
According to Riley, “We have not discussed that internally right now,” the Associated Press reported. “We need to consider when to make that kind of commitment. In actuality, we are exempt from doing it until 2025. However, we’ll see. We haven’t decided on it, nor have we really had a serious conversation about it.
“To commit those kinds of resources unless you have someone who will be there and available every single night is a big decision on our part,” Riley remarked. “That is the reality.”
Riley’s press conference focused on getting players on the court more; the Heat started games with 18 different players this season and had utilized 37 different starting combinations. Due to injuries to Terry Rozier, Tyler Herro, and Butler last season, it was challenging to assess the team’s offensive performance. Out of Miami’s core, Bam Adebayo was the only player that was always on the court.
But the news conference eventually returned to Butler. Butler posted on Instagram during this past weekend’s F1 Grand Prix in Miami, saying, “If I was playing, Boston would be at home, New York damn sure would… be at home.” Riley did not like it.
Riley stated, “You should keep your mouth shut on the criticism of those teams if you’re not on the court playing against Boston or the New York Knicks.”
The Heat are anticipated to search far and wide this summer for another star player, but if Butler isn’t offered the deal he wants, things might get even more heated.
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