Category: Miami Heat

Pat Riley isn't thrilled with Jimmy Butler's public comments about the Boston Celtics.

Butler missed the first round of the NBA playoffs while dealing with an MCL injury, and his Miami Heat were outclassed by the Celtics. Miami was ousted in five games while playing without their six-time All-Star forward. Over the weekend, Butler said, "If I was playing, Boston would be at home." Riley was not happy.

On Monday, the Heat president said Butler should keep his mouth shut because he wasn't on the court. Video is below.

Riley certainly seems annoyed with Butler, but reading too deeply into those comments may be taking things too far. That said, he also claimed the Heat wouldn't just give Butler a new max contract extension if the star asked for it and would instead consider if he was going to be available every night.

Butler is owed $48.8 million for the 2024-25 season, then holds a $52.4 million player option for the the 2025-26 season. He'll be 35 at the start of next season and his numbers declined across the board during the 2023-24 campaign. He finished the season averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 34.0 minutes over 60 games.

The Heat and Butler need to get on the same page about the team's future. Having their star publicly trolling rival teams after washing out of the playoffs likely isn't helping that relationship.

Heat Culture is reaching a crossroads. According to the Miami Herald, Jimmy Butler is seeking a contract extension this summer and it sounds like the Miami Heat are going to have to make a decision about the future of the franchise. Extend Butler or prepare for the next phase, whatever that may be.

Butler is the consummate Miami Heat player, but he turns 35 later this year. He missed 22 regular season games this season and appeared in more Fall Out Boy videos than playoff games. It's never been a problem that he misses a big chunk of the regular season because he's been such a great competitor in the postseason. Despite having a reputation for being an iron man under Tom Thibodeau during his early days, he's only played 70 games in a season twice in his entire career and hasn't appeared in more than 65 games since 2017 when he was still in Chicago.

But again, that hasn't mattered because he would show up when the games really mattered. He was "Playoff Jimmy" and he helped Miami reach the NBA Finals twice in his first four seasons with the franchise. This year, with him unvailable during the regular season the Heat finished with the 8th best record in the Eastern Conference for the second straight year. Instead of making a miraculous run to the Finals, they were eliminated in five games by a hated rival.

So now Butler wants an extension that will change the two-years, $101.2 million remaining on his contract into a three-year deal worth $161.7 million. Miami would be paying Butler about $58.6 million in his age 37 season. There's no reason to believe he'll be available more often going forward. Miami's only really good regular season in the Butler era was when they won 53 games two years ago. Butler appeared in just 57 games.

While Butler and the Heat have until next summer to work out that deal it doesn't sound like Butler wants to wait. According to the Miami Herald, "Butler and his camp will push for that extension before the start of the upcoming season. Choosing not to offer this exact extension this offseason could lead to a disgruntled Butler."

"Disgruntled Butler" is a very close relative of "Playoff Jimmy." You may remember him from such previous stops as Chicago and Minnesota, before he decided he wanted to get out of Philadelphia and head to Miami back in 2019.

It would be pretty interesting to see Butler and Pat Riley have a staring contest because what other franchise would want an expensive, aging star who rarely plays? I mean, besides the teams that already have one or two of their own. And how much is another team willing to give up in a deal for Butler?

It kind of feels like a situation where no one is going to get what they think they deserve, but Pat Riley always seems to find a way to wriggle his way out of this jam or another. The team has won three titles since he too his talents to South Beach and they've been reached Eastern Conference finals seven other times.

So maybe he can keep getting away with this. Maybe there will be another player available in the next year or two who fits perfectly with Heat Culture. It just seems unlikely that Jimmy Butler plays alongside this hypothetical player - whether he's on the roster or not.