Jimmy Butler back with Heat after suspension, but nothing has really changed: ‘We are where we are’

Jimmy Butler is back with the Miami Heat after his suspension, but nothing has really changed. Butler still wants the Heat to trade him and the Heat will continue to try to fulfill that request ahead of the NBA’s Feb. 6 trade deadline.

For now, Butler remains with the Heat and returned to game action on Friday after serving his seven-game team-issued suspension for “conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season.”

In his first game minutes since Jan. 2, Butler recorded 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, 0-of-2 shooting on threes and 4-of-4 shooting from the foul line, three rebounds and two assists while logging 33 minutes in Friday night’s 133-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets to begin a three-game homestand. Butler was used in his usual starting role in his first game in nearly two weeks.

“I guess it’s basketball at this point,” Butler said of returning to play for a team that suspended him without pay, as the Heat continues its homestand on Sunday against the San Antonio Spurs (3 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). “I know what I’m expected to do while I’m here. I tried to do that to the best of my ability, but we are where we are.”

Jimmy Butler returns from suspension, but Heat returns to .500 after loss to Nuggets. Takeaways

A lot has transpired during a drama-filled few weeks to push Butler and the Heat to this point. There was a soft trade request from Butler, a suspension issued by the Heat and an airing of grievances against each other along the way.

Butler met with Heat president Pat Riley last week, and then met with Heat owner Micky Arison and chief executive officer Nick Arison on Thursday, according to league sources. Through it all, Butler has remained adamant about his desire to be traded.

The most telling answers from Butler following Friday’s game were his non-answers.

When asked if he could re-discover his “joy” with the Heat — two weeks after saying he lost his “joy” on the court with the Heat — Butler said following Friday’s loss: “I was told to say no comment, so no comment.”

When asked if his situation with the Heat is fixable, Butler again said: “No comment.”

According to multiple sources, Butler has been disappointed with the Heat primarily because Miami declined to give him a two-year, $113 million contract extension this past summer, a deal that would have run through the 2026-27 season. Butler was open to signing such a deal early in the negotiating window, but his mind-set changed when the extension wasn’t immediately offered by the Heat.

Sources have also said that Butler is frustrated with his role in the Heat’s offense this season and was caught off guard by Riley’s pointed public comments this past offseason.

Butler, a six-time NBA All-Star, is on a $48.8 million salary this season. He can become a free agent this upcoming summer, with a $52.4 million player option in his contract for next season.

“There was a lot said by everybody except for me, to tell you the truth,” Butler said Friday of the noise surrounding his situation. “So we’ll let people keep talking like they know everything, like they have all the answers. And then sooner or later, the whole truth will come out. But until then, we’ll continue to let people talk. And if I’m here, I will get out there and play.”

Butler, who is in the middle of his sixth season with the Heat, didn’t stop there when discussing the speculation surrounding his uncertain Heat future.

“I expect for people to talk,” Butler, 35, continued. “Half the reason is because don’t nobody ever know what I’m really doing. So you just make up stuff, which is fine. And honestly, I really don’t pay any attention to it. But I got people telling me, ‘Oh, they said this, they said that.’ It’s really all good, I don’t have to clear anything up. So more power to you, keep talking and we’ll see where we end up.”

The question is, will the Heat trade Butler before next month’s league-wide deadline?

While the Heat prefers to get a deal done sooner rather than later because Butler’s wish to be traded has become clear, league sources have emphasized that the Heat won’t act out of desperation and will only accept an offer it feels helps the team now and moving forward.

In any Butler trade, the Heat wants to acquire a quality player (or players) who can help the team this season. That will be the top priority for Miami. But the Heat also doesn’t want to take back long-term salary that’s going to clog its salary cap for the 2026 offseason, unless it’s for top-end All-Star talent. Draft capital is also critical for the Heat, as it currently only has one unprotected first-round pick that it can deal away.

The Heat has yet to find an acceptable deal, with the Phoenix Suns the team that has pushed the hardest to acquire Butler in recent weeks.

“As much as everybody may think, I don’t got a problem with these guys,” Butler said, referring to his Heat teammates. “These guys are cool, they’re my friends. Some of them tapped in [while I was suspended], some of y’all didn’t. Don’t think I don’t know that. My beef is not with them and never will be, never has been.”

When asked following Butler’s 18-point performance on Friday whether the Heat needs more production from him, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra bristled at the question.

“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said. “We haven’t seen him, obviously, in a couple weeks. He hasn’t played a lot of games. So that is likely part of this. I know what story lines you’re looking for. I’m not feeding into any of that tonight. We got our [buts] kicked.”

Amid the Butler saga, the middling Heat has now dropped three straight games and stands at 20-20 this season after 40 games. In Friday’s loss to the Nuggets, the Heat allowed 134.3 points per 100 possessions for its worst single-game defensive rating of the season.

All the while, Butler continues to try to find levity in what has become an uncomfortable situation for him and the team.

Butler announced his return Friday through a pregame statement issued by his agent Bernie Lee on social media less than two hours before tipoff. Copying the press release that Michael Jordan used to announce his return to the Chicago Bulls following his first retirement, the statement issued by Lee said simply: “I’m back.”

Immediately after Lee posted that statement, Butler’s Instagram story showed photos of him wearing the No. 45 Bulls jersey that Jordan switched to after returning from his first retirement. Butler also wore that No. 45 Jordan jersey during his postgame interview on Friday.

“I laugh a lot,” Butler said. “Look, I’ll tell you my happiness off the court is at an all-time high. I got my babies, I got my friends, a lot of dominoes and coffee.”

But Butler’s happiness on the court is not at an all-time high. So, what if the Heat doesn’t trade him before the Feb. 6 trade deadline?

“We’re playing a lot of what ifs, ain’t we?” Butler said with a grin before answering the question. “Then I’m gonna hoop.”