If there’s one thing to watch this offseason for the Miami Heat, it’s the contract situation surrounding star player Jimmy Butler. One person to weigh in on the matter is ESPN basketball commentator Tim Legler, who said he believes the situation is “not moving in the right direction” based on how Heat president Pat Riley has handled Butler.
“The way Pat Riley handled some of Jimmy Butler’s behavior,” Legler said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Monday. “They [him] They put the regular season ahead of him… I don’t think this situation is moving in the right direction.”
Riley’s comments left Legler worried about the Heat.
Riley’s comments suggested the Heat star was seeking a contract extension after meeting the terms of his $113 million, two-year deal this summer, but Riley was noncommittal during his end-of-season press conference in May.
“Well, we don’t have to do that for a year, so we haven’t had any internal discussions about it right now, but we’ll look at it and then we’ll have to make that commitment,” Riley said. “Actually, we don’t have to do that until ’25, but we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision yet. We haven’t really had any serious discussions about it, so we’ll see how it goes.”
“Well, if they make a request, we’ll either accept it or say we’ll consider it,” Riley said. “We haven’t made a decision yet and I think we’re putting too much thought into this. He still has two years left on his contract. In theory he has a player option, but it’s something we have to seriously consider based on a lot of factors. I don’t want to go into the different factors right now because they all evolve into different assumptions. But certainly, it’s a big decision for us to put resources like that into it unless you’re a guy who can truly be there and available every night. That’s the truth.”
Riley said Butler should “shut up.”
Riley added fuel to the fire when he was asked about a viral video of Butler saying, “If I was healthy, the team could have beaten the New York Knicks and the Boston Celtics” after the Heat were eliminated from the playoffs. Butler suffered a sprained MCL in the first game of the play-in tournament, so Riley responded, “Butler’s out, so he should keep his mouth shut.”
“I was like, is Jimmy kidding me for saying that? Or is he serious?'” Riley said. “Unless they’re playing Boston or they’re playing the New York Knicks, they should keep their criticism of that team quiet.”
Butler: “I don’t want to go anywhere but Miami”
While Riley’s comments have been the talk of the offseason, he also said in the same press conference that Butler has had the biggest impact on Miami, leading the team to two NBA Finals appearances in his five seasons there, and there’s also the strong impression that Butler “doesn’t want to go anywhere” other than to the Heat, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania put it.
“My feeling is that Jimmy Butler doesn’t want to go anywhere other than Miami,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show.” “He seems to like Miami, but he’s eligible for an extension this year. There are multiple teams that will give him an extension, and I think that will become clear in the next month or so. The Heat don’t want to trade him, but he wants an extension. Will the Heat give him an extension? That’s the question.”
Either way, it remains to be seen whether Legler’s instincts are correct, as it will undoubtedly be an interesting offseason for the Heat and Butler. But with Miami holding the 15th and 43rd overall picks this year, their focus will be on the NBA Draft, which runs from Wednesday through Thursday.
