Jimmy Butler-Heat saga sparks lively conversation on ‘Inside the NBA:’ ‘This is all about money’

The Jimmy Butler situation is complicated. Just ask TNT’s “Inside the NBA” crew.

The ongoing Butler-Heat saga sparked a lively discussion among the studio show’s analysts/former NBA players Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Shaquille O’Neal in the early hours of Wednesday morning after Tuesday night’s games.

“I wouldn’t even trade for him unless he gave me a contract extension because I can’t take that chance that he’s going to leave after one year,” Barkley said to kick off the conversation. “Because you’re going to have to give up some good stuff. Jimmy Butler is a terrific player. You’re not going to get him for free. But if I’m going to rent him for the rest of the season and he opts out of my contract, I’m done.”

Barkley is referring to the $52.4 million player option in Butler’s contract for next season, which gives Butler some leverage in this situation because he can opt out and become a free agent this upcoming summer. According to a league source, Butler has already made clear that he does not have any interest in being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Butler, 35, will serve the fourth game of his team-issued seven-game suspension when the Heat takes on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Thursday (9 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network Sun). The suspension runs through the end of the Heat’s current six-game West Coast trip, and he will be eligible to come back when the Heat returns to Miami to host the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 17.

According to a source close to the situation, Butler will be expected to rejoin the Heat and play in games if he’s still on the roster at the end of his team-issued seven-game suspension. As of now, the Heat is not interested in having Butler remain away from the team while paying him the remainder of his $48.8 million salary for this season after his suspension is over.

Even if Butler returns to the Heat after his suspension, the Heat will likely continue to listen to trade offers for him up until the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

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.

“I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball,” Butler said last week during a postgame news conference at Kaseya Center. “And wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon, I want to get my joy back. I’m happy here — off the court. But I want to be back to someone dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. Right now, I’m not doing that.” Does Butler believe he can get his joy back while remaining on the Heat’s roster?

“Probably not,” Butler said.

The day after Butler made those comments, the Heat announced his suspension.

“He’s not the first player that we’ve seen this happen to, maybe the suspension part,” Smith said on TNT’s studio show. “But in their last year, an aging-but-still relevant star player and we’ve seen it happen before. Pat Riley has been through it before, as well.

“I’ll just say this: There’s a way for this to happen. I just don’t like the fact that Jimmy Butler has always been the guy who says, ‘If you don’t come to practice and play hard, I’m going to call you out. If you don’t come to the games and play hard, I’m going to call you out.’ And now, when he’s in this position and then he’s getting suspended because he feels like he doesn’t have the energy to play hard when that has been his calling card.”

O’Neal, who won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006, then stepped in.

“Not play hard, he just said he doesn’t have the joy anymore,” O’Neal said.

But Barkley didn’t want to hear it.

“That’s total bull [expletive],” Barkley said. “Stop it, man. I don’t want to hear all that stuff. This is all about money. So don’t tell me he doesn’t have any joy. He wants a long-term contract.

“You have a contract. You don’t get to say, ‘Unless you extend me, I’m just going to quit playing.’”

Butler, 35, is averaging 17.6 points on 10.5 field-goal attempts, 5.5 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field this season. The Heat is 6-7 in games without Butler this season.

“He said he doesn’t have joy anymore,” Barkley added. “I bet he gets joy if you gave him three more years.”

The Heat announced Butler’s suspension Friday through a press release that said: “We have suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games for multiple instances of 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.

“Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers.”

The Heat has had discussions with several teams in recent days regarding a potential Butler trade, according to a league source. But as of Tuesday afternoon, the Heat had not been presented with a trade offer for Butler that is being strongly considered.

The Phoenix Suns appear to be the team pushing hardest to trade for Butler, according to league sources, but the complication is that Suns guard Bradley Beal would very likely need to be involved in that deal to make the salary-cap math work. The Heat is not interested in acquiring Beal’s no-trade clause, meaning the Suns need to find a third team to take Beal, and Beal would need to approve of being dealt to that team while the Heat also gets assets in return that it’s interested in as part of the trade.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Wednesday that Beal and his agent have had no talks about waiving his no-trade clause, and his only focus is on helping the Suns. Beal has two years and $110 million left on his contract after this season.

Butler is in the second season of a three-year, $146 million contract extension that he signed with the Heat in August 2021.

Butler, who is in the middle of his sixth season with the franchise, has helped lead the Heat to three Eastern Conference finals appearances and two NBA Finals appearances since joining the team during the 2019 offseason. He has been selected for two NBA All-Star Games and made an All-NBA team three times during his first five seasons with the Heat.

“You know what bothers me about this whole thing, I don’t understand why we as players, we’ve all been fairly compensated in our career. All of us,” Barkley said regarding Butler’s situation. “The notion that once you’re past your prime, they got to keep paying you top dollar, I don’t think that’s right. They have paid him.”