Jimmy Butler is not planning to sign an extension with the Miami Heat or any team that might trade for him ahead of his potential 2025 free agency, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania. Butler will instead play out the 2024-25 season hoping to have a big enough year to earn a major payday next summer, when he has a $52.4 million player option that he can either use for another year of max money or opt out of to secure a long-term deal.
Butler has been the subject of trade rumors all offseason. With potentially two years left on his contract, previous reports had indicated that Butler was hoping to secure a two-year max extension. While other teams were reportedly willing to give him that extension through a trade, the Heat were hesitant. "That's a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who's going to be there and available every single night," Riley said at his end-of-season press conference. "That's the truth."
Last season, Butler missed 22 regular-season games, as well as Miami's entire first-round playoff loss to the Boston Celtics. Durability has been a persistent problem for him lately, as he has not played 70 games in a season since the 2016-17 campaign, his last with the Chicago Bulls. As Butler will be turning 35 before opening night, his age suggests that injuries will continue to be an issue for Butler moving forward.
While Butler's hesitance to sign an extension may complicate possible trade talks, it does not take them off of the table entirely. Teams could theoretically trade for Butler either treating him as a rental or with the hope that they could sway him to extend down the line. Still, given the price Miami would likely ask for Butler, any team trading for him would likely have to believe he was coming in as a multi-year fit.
The Heat reportedly agreed to a three-year max extension Wednesday with their other All-Star, Bam Adebayo. That said, the Heat have been in the Play-In Tournament two years in a row, and while they've reached two NBA Finals in the past five seasons, their regular seasons have largely been fairly average. Miami must to figure out how it can either get back to the top of the Eastern Conference or set itself up for the future. A motivated Butler will likely help the Heat next season, but without upgrades elsewhere on the roster, Miami is going to have a hard time challenging Boston and the rest of the East.
