Miami Heat suspend Jimmy Butler for seven games and will seek to trade him
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The Miami Heat suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games on Friday and said they will seek to trade him. The Heat said the suspension was for “conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks”. “Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team,” the Heat said in a statement, one day after Butler said in a postgame press conference that he does not believe he can be happy playing in Miami going forward.
Butler will lose about $336,543 per game during the suspension, or about $2,355,798 in all. He has the right to an appeal, which could lessen the financial hit. Butler will not be with the team for its home game Saturday against Utah and then the totality of a six-game road trip to Sacramento, Golden State, Utah, Portland, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In theory, the earliest that Butler could play again for the Heat is 17 January at home against Denver. But he has likely played for Miami for the final time. “Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers,” the Heat said.
It’s a turnaround from a week ago, when Heat president Pat Riley said that the team would not trade Butler. But now, the relationship between Butler and the Heat – a talking point for weeks – appears to be well past the breaking point. The Heat lost to Indiana 128-115 on Thursday night, with Butler scoring exactly nine points and sitting out the fourth quarter for the second consecutive game. It also happened Wednesday in a win over New Orleans.
