The Miami Heat are suspending star forward Jimmy Butler indefinitely, CBS Sports NBA insider Bill Reiter confirmed Monday. The decision came after Butler walked out of a shootaround ahead of Monday’s game against the Orlando Magic. Butler — who has been publicly trying to force a trade out of Miami for weeks — left practice after he was informed that Haywood Highsmith would be replacing him in the starting lineup moving forward, according to ESPN.
The Heat said they are suspending Butler for a minimum of five games, which will take the team through the Feb. 6 trade deadline. They added that Butler’s latest suspension comes without pay, and the Heat say the veteran star was “intentionally withholding services.”
The Miami Heat are suspending Jimmy Butler without pay effective immediately for an indefinite period to last no fewer than five games,” the team wrote in a statement. “The suspension is due to a continued pattern of disregard of team rules, engaging in conduct detrimental to the team and intentionally withholding services. This includes walking out of practice earlier today.”
This is the third suspension the Heat have issued Butler this month. The first, a seven-game suspension that came earlier in January, was for conduct detrimental to the team following his initial trade request. The second, which came last week, was two games for missing a team flight. Butler was initially expected to return to the fold on Monday against the Magic.
Notably, this is not the first time Butler has been involved in a practice incident while trying to get traded. When he was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves during training camp in 2018, he infamously played a practice scrimmage with reserves against the starting lineup in order to prove a point. Afterward, he held a televised interview with Rachel Nichols. He was eventually traded to the Philadelphia 76ers during the season.
Butler is still on the trade block but his path to his preferred destination, the Phoenix Suns, is precarious. Not only would the Suns need to find a taker for Bradley Beal’s supermax contract, but they’d need Beal to agree to a trade given his no-trade clause. Phoenix has been by far the most aggressive Butler suitor this season, but if a Suns deal can’t be reached, both Butler and the Heat will need to look elsewhere.
Butler has a player option for next season worth $52.4 million. And given how little cap space exists on the open market this summer, he seems likely to exercise the option and stay out of unrestricted free agency. That means that if a trade can’t be reached ahead of the trade deadline, Butler may well be forced to return to the Heat in the summer.
Given his latest suspension, his place on the team is seemingly growing increasingly untenable. Perhaps that makes a trade more likely in the next 10 days, but for now, Butler won’t be playing for anyone.
