Jimmy Butler

Jimmy Butler To Start On Friday In Heat Return

January 17th, 2025 at 5:25pm CST by Luke Adams

5:25pm: Head coach Erik Spoelstra has confirmed that Butler will start vs. Denver, tweets Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel.

5:10pm: Having finished serving his team-imposed seven-game suspension, Jimmy Butler will make his return on Friday when the Heat host the Nuggets in Miami, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, who reports (via Twitter) that the star forward is expected to reclaim his spot in the starting lineup.

Given how messy the standoff between the two sides had gotten, with Butler requesting a trade and Miami suspending him for conduct detrimental to the team, there had been some skepticism that the 35-year-old would play another game for the Heat. However, reports throughout the week had suggested that both the Heat and Butler were preparing for this scenario

The Heat don’t have many good paths forward outside of reintegrating Butler. They reportedly haven’t come close to receiving a viable trade offer and would face significant push-back from the NBPA if they tried to suspend him again. Sending Butler home while he continues to collect pay checks reportedly isn’t an option that appeals to management — it would also likely violate the NBA’s player participation policy.

Agent Bernie Lee issued a tongue-in-cheek press release on Twitter on behalf of Butler moments ago, stating, “I’m back,” a reference to Michael Jordan‘s statement via agent David Falk when Jordan made his NBA comeback in 1995.

The last time Butler returned from a multi-game absence amid trade rumors was on January 1, when he played vs. New Orleans after missing five games due to a minor ankle injury and an illness. He didn’t look fully engaged in that outing or during a Jan. 2 game vs. Indiana, frequently standing in the corner on offense without the ball in his hands, though he and his camp later strongly pushed back against the implication that he wasn’t playing his hardest.

Butler’s trade request was reported shortly after the Jan. 2 game, with the Heat announcing his suspension the following day.

Within an in-depth report on the Butler situation earlier today, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said that the Heat were “fully prepared” for the six-time All-Star to play on Friday, but added that there was a “palpable dread at what he might do and the environment the ongoing chaos might create.”

Obviously, it’s worth keeping a close eye on how Butler’s return plays out to see whether he and the Heat can get through the night without any further drama.

Members Of Heat Organization Fear Jimmy Butler Situation Could Get Uglier

January 17th, 2025 at 8:17am CST by Dana Gauruder

Members of the Heat organization, including players, coaches and staffers, have grown weary of Jimmy Butler‘s feud with the front office and it’s feared that the situation could get even worse, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports.

With his team-imposed seven-game suspension over, Butler could return to action against the Nuggets on Friday. However, there’s a sense of dread in the organization that Butler could become even more of a distraction.

One unnamed source within the organization told Shelburne, “I don’t know how he can come back to this locker room,” while another informed her, “We don’t want him back.”

Butler reiterated his demand to be traded to president of basketball operations Pat Riley during the suspension while the team was away on a six-game road trip. Butler was furious at the length of the suspension and the potential $2.35MM in lost salary, according to Shelburne, who says the possibility of a reduction waned because Butler failed to show enough contrition.

Here’s more from Shelburne’s story:

Butler was stunned when Riley publicly criticized him after last season for missing playoff games. Butler also felt the organization had prioritized Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro over him, especially when Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra essentially anointed Adebayo as the team leader when Udonis Haslem retired.
Butler’s preferential treatment during his years with the Heat is detailed, including staying in his mansion in Boulder, Colorado during the 2023 Finals. He’s also been allowed to fly privately or stay at a different location than the team on road trips.
During the first half of a game against Oklahoma City on Dec. 20, Butler went to the locker room because of a sprained ankle, then left the arena because he told the team’s medical staff that he was feeling sick. He didn’t play the next three games and some team officials began to regard Butler as somewhat AWOL. During the last of those absences, Butler posted a video of himself playing soccer.

Heat Notes: Butler, Young Core, Adebayo, Rozier, Richardson

January 16th, 2025 at 8:53pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Despite the fact that Heat star Jimmy Butler reportedly made it clear he no longer wants to play for the franchise, he may suit up for Miami on Friday, writes Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. Butler is eligible to return against Denver from his team-issued suspension and was not listed on Thursday’s injury report.

The six-time All-Star was expected to meet with Arison and CEO Nick Arison on Thursday afternoon to discuss a path forward.

As has been reported, there has been little progress on a potential trade. The Heat would prefer to get a trade done sooner rather than later but will only accept a deal that will help the team both now and moving forward.

We have more from the Heat:

Miami went 3-4 during Butler’s suspension, including three consecutive wins against the Warriors, Jazz and Trail Blazers. The most promising aspect of the trip, The Athletic’s James Jackson writes, is the fact that Jaime Jaquez Jr., Kel’el Ware and Nikola Jovic all showed promise. Ware continues to play a larger role as the season goes on. Teammate Tyler Herro expressed optimism about what he saw from those players during the stretch. “Ups and downs with a young player are normal,” Herro said. “I went through it myself. I think that’s the hardest thing: just finding consistency night in and night out. That’s a challenge for any young player. I think getting the reps every night is ultimately what young guys need, to be able to continue to get better and go through ups and downs, play through mistakes. But they’re all playing very well. You can see how good they can be, and I’m really excited for them.“
Ware and Jovic have looked particularly good coming off the bench for Miami, often assisting on each other’s makes, Chiang observes in a separate story. On the other hand, Bam Adebayo and Terry Rozier remain off the mark offensively, with Adebayo shooting a career-low from the field and Rozier shooting his lowest since the 2018/19 season.
Despite being active earlier this month and looking like he was on track to return soon, Josh Richardson went home from the team’s West Coast road trip early for an MRI on his heel. Richardson was ruled out due to that heel issue, according to the team (Twitter link). It’s unknown at this time when Richardson will be able to return or what the results of the MRI were.

And-Ones: G. Williams, Harlan, Yang, Trade Deadline

January 16th, 2025 at 1:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Former SuperSonics star Gus Williams passed away on Wednesday nearly five years after suffering a major stroke, writes Tim Booth of The Seattle Times. Williams was 71 years old.

A 6’2″ point guard whose nickname was “The Wizard,” Williams played 11 seasons in the NBA with the Warriors, SuperSonics, Bullets (Wizards) and Hawks. He spent six seasons in Seattle, helping guide the team to its lone championship in 1979.

Williams made two All-Star and two All-NBA appearances with the Sonics, averaging 20.3 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 477 regular season games (34.1 minutes per contest).

The former USC star was even better in the postseason, averaging 23.2 PPG, 5.3 APG, 3.8 RPG and 2.0 SPG in 69 playoff games during his time with Seattle, including 29.0 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.6 APG and 1.0 SPG in the ’79 NBA Finals.

Our condolences go out to Williams’ family and friends.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

Kevin Harlan is nearing a deal to call NBA games for Amazon Prime Video starting with the 2025/26 season, sources tell Andrew Marchand of The Athletic. Harland, 64, has been with TNT Sports for decades, but the network is in its final season as an NBA media rights holder. Harland would be Amazon’s No. 2 play-by-play announcer behind Ian Eagle, Marchand adds.
Chinese prospect Hansen Yang, who has aspirations of entering his name in the 2025 NBA draft, has signed with Klutch Sports Group and will be represented by CEO Rich Paul, among other agents, reports Bobby Marks of ESPN (Twitter link). A 7’1″ center, the 19-year-old Yang is averaging 16.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.7 blocks in 31 games this season with the Qingdao Eagles of the Chinese Basketball Association.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report examines what every NBA team would do if the trade deadline were today, while ESPN insiders Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, Andre Snelling and Chris Herring (subscription required) come up with five hypothetical trades that could change the title race. Pelton’s three-team proposal involves Jimmy Butler landing with the Kings and DeMar DeRozan heading to the Heat.

Scotto’s Latest: Warriors, Vucevic, Centers, Connaughton, Suns

January 16th, 2025 at 12:24pm CST by Luke Adams

After telling reporters earlier this week that he doesn’t want the Warriors to make a “desperate” trade that compromises the team’s long-term future for short-term gain, Stephen Curry clarified on Wednesday that his comments don’t mean he’s content playing on a .500 team that’s not trying to improve.

“Anyone who thinks I’m OK being on an average basketball team is insane,” Curry said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. “Take whatever I said, I still stand on it. But that doesn’t mean we’re not in a situation where we are trying to get better, make appropriate moves that help you do that. (General manager) Mike (Dunleavy Jr.) knows that. We’ve talked about it. That’s the expectation from me. It doesn’t mean you’re reckless.”

As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reports, Dunleavy and the Warriors are indeed exploring their options on the trade market, with a focus on upgrades in the frontcourt rather than on the wing. Golden State has looked into centers like Nikola Vucevic, John Collins, Jonas Valanciunas, and Robert Williams, according to Scotto, who says the odds of the team making a trade for a forward like Jimmy Butler or Cameron Johnson have decreased.

While the Warriors want to give Curry and Draymond Green a chance to compete for another title, they won’t mortgage their future to make it happen, Scotto writes, adding that the front office still remains reluctant to part with forward Jonathan Kuminga.

Here’s more from Scotto:

Following up on the trade market for centers, Scotto says some NBA executives believe the Bulls could land a first-round pick in a deal for Vucevic, who is having a strong season in Chicago. The Wizards and Trail Blazers are expected to command second-rounders for Valanciunas and Williams, respectively, while Collins’ value is hard to pin down, Scotto notes, given the $26.6MM player option the Jazz big man holds for 2025/26.
Rival executives who spoke to Scotto are monitoring Bucks wing Pat Connaughton as a trade candidate, since Milwaukee could duck below the second tax apron and create more roster flexibility by moving off of his $9.4MM salary. Connaughton is having a down year and holds a $9.4MM player option for ’25/26, so the Bucks would have to attach draft picks and/or cash to move off of him. While the Bucks can’t trade cash as long as they remain above the second apron, they could do so in a trade that moves them below that threshold.
After trading for Nick Richards, the Suns are expected to continue gauging Jusuf Nurkic‘s trade market and trying to figure out a Butler deal as they seek out win-now upgrades, Scotto writes. Scotto points out that role players Royce O’Neale and Grayson Allen would both have positive value as trade chips, but there has been no indication that Phoenix would have interest in moving either player.

Latest On Jimmy Butler

January 15th, 2025 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Heat‘s game on Wednesday vs. the Lakers will be the seventh of Jimmy Butler‘s suspension, making him eligible to rejoin the team in advance of Friday’s contest against Denver. With Miami still apparently not close to finding a suitable trade involving Butler, it’s unclear what the next step in the standoff between the team and its star forward will look like.

Reporting earlier this week indicated that the Heat expect Butler to resume playing in games at the end of his suspension, and Sam Amick of The Athletic hears from a source close to Butler that the 35-year-old intends to report for duty. But given the strained relationship between the two sides, it would almost be surprising if Butler simply returns to action on Friday without incident.

NBA insider Chris Haynes stated during an appearance on the Le Batard Show on Tuesday (YouTube link) that the Heat openly questioned Butler’s effort after that game, which didn’t sit well with the six-time All-Star, who told reporters unprompted in his media session the following night that he always plays hard.

Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the implication from team officials that Butler wasn’t playing his hardest was one reason why he requested a trade on Jan. 2. According to Haynes, Butler’s camp also privately pushed back against the team’s suggestion that his effort was lacking, using speed and acceleration data from Second Spectrum.

As has been widely reported, Butler’s initial unhappiness with the Heat stemmed from their unwillingness to offer him the maximum-salary contract extension he was seeking over the offseason. However, another source of frustration for Butler has been his role in the team’s new-look offense, according to both Haynes and Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.

Appearing on the Le Batard Show, Haynes noted that Miami tweaked its offensive system prior to this season in an effort to reduce its mid-range looks and increase its three-point attempts, which doesn’t cater to Butler’s skill set. As Haynes observes, Butler’s usage rate this season has dipped to 21.2%, his lowest mark since his third season in Chicago in 2013/14.

According to Chiang, Butler’s camp inquired about the adjustments to Erik Spoelstra‘s system and was told that Miami made changes in part because the forward’s inconsistent regular season availability made it difficult to build the offense around him. Conversely, Chiang writes, some people with the Heat may contend that Butler has made his role look smaller than it actually is by “making it a point in some games to run to the corner and play without the ball in his hands.”

Here’s more on Butler:

According to Chiang, Butler’s meeting with Heat owner Micky Arison is tentatively expected to take place on Thursday, so there could be more clarity on next steps after that session.
Haynes provided several more interesting tidbits during his appearance on the Le Batard Show (YouTube link), revealing that Butler and Riley didn’t communicate for several months between the offseason and January 1; Haynes also shared a story about how Butler was irked by an accounting error last spring that resulted in him not being paid until the issue was resolved 10 days later (hat tips to HoopsHype).
According to Haynes, Butler’s camp wasn’t happy about leaks suggesting that he has repeatedly taken private flights instead of taking the team charter. Haynes hears that those flights only happened a handful of times, primarily during the 2023 NBA Finals when Butler’s father was ill.
While it’s unclear if the Bucks have legitimate trade interest in Butler, two league sources insist to Amick of The Athletic that Milwaukee hasn’t been told by the forward’s camp that he doesn’t want to play there. Multiple reports previously indicated that the Bucks had been advised not to pursue Butler, but it sounds like Memphis is the only team known to have received that message.
Speaking to Marc J. Spears of Andscape about the standoff between Butler and the Heat, team captain Bam Adebayo said his approach is to focus on winning games and letting the front office work out that issue. “You understand that it’s business at the end of the day, and I’ll leave it at that,” Adebayo said. “J.B. is one of my guys. So, for me, we give him space and we let him and management handle it, get involved in that. We worry about getting these wins because at the end of the day, whatever happens with him and the management, somebody still got to play these games.” According to Spears, teammate Tyler Herro praised Adebayo for showing “a lot of leadership” during a challenging time for the club.

Jimmy Butler Meets With Pat Riley, Reiterates Trade Request

January 14th, 2025 at 1:27pm CST by Luke Adams

1:27pm: Butler is expected to meet with Heat owner Micky Arison after his suspension ends this week, reports Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. According to Winderman, Arison isn’t in favor of allowing Butler to remain away from the team while continuing to collect pay checks toward his $48.8MM salary.

11:50am: Heat forward Jimmy Butler met in person with team president Pat Riley last week and reiterated his request to be traded, league sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN.

According to Charania, Butler told Riley during that meeting that he has no intention of signing a new contract with the Heat during the 2025 offseason and that he would only pick up his $52.4MM player option for 2025/26 in order to facilitate a trade.

Butler reiterating his desire to be traded and making it clear he doesn’t plan to sign a new deal with the Heat doesn’t materially change the circumstances of his standoff with the Heat — we already knew that the 35-year-old wanted out and that his days with the team are likely numbered.

Still, it’s perhaps a signal that the Heat’s plan to reintegrate Butler upon the conclusion of his team-imposed seven-game suspension later this week won’t go as smoothly as the club hopes. Butler’s has already missed six games while serving his suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, so Wednesday’s contest against the Lakers will be the seventh and final game of that ban.

Heat officials intend to meet later this week to discuss the best route forward with Butler, league sources tell Charania.

Several recent reports have indicated that Miami has talked to multiple teams about potential Butler trades but has yet to gain any real momentum in any of those discussions and is in no rush to take a deal that isn’t in the club’s best interests. The Heat are said to be seeking players who can help them win this season, as well as short-term contracts that will allow the front office to generate cap flexibility going forward.

The Suns are widely viewed as the team with the most interest in Butler, who strongly reciprocates their interest. But Phoenix isn’t well positioned to make a strong offer, given its position relative to the second tax apron and its lack of appealing trade chips. Due to their second-apron restrictions, the Suns would almost certainly need to send out Bradley Beal in any deal for Butler — Beal has a no-trade clause and would need to approve any move, while Miami isn’t interested in taking on his multiyear maximum-salary contract.

Multiple NBA insiders have speculated that the Heat may not find a deal they like by the February 6 trade deadline, delaying resolution on the Butler situation until the offseason. At that time, more teams would have the flexibility to acquire him via sign-and-trade or opt-in-and-trade.

Even letting Butler walk for nothing could be an appealing option for Miami if the alternative sees the club take back unwanted multiyear contracts in a trade. The Clippers took that approach with Paul George this past offseason and it’s working out well for them so far.

Unlike George, Butler doesn’t have an obvious suitor with cap room waiting for him in free agency, so he’ll have to be careful about overplaying his hand. The Nets are currently the only team projected to have maximum-salary cap room during the offseason, and they reportedly have no intention of pursuing the Heat star.

Butler’s dissatisfaction in Miami stems in large part from the Heat’s unwillingness to give him the maximum-salary extension offer he wanted during the offseason. Reporting on Christmas Day indicated that he preferred a trade; a little over a week later, word broke that he had informed the Heat of his desire to be moved.

According to Charania, one issue that factored into Butler’s January 2 trade request was an implication from team officials that the six-time All-Star didn’t play his hardest in a Jan. 1 win over New Orleans.

Butler scored nine points in 25 minutes in that game and followed up that performance with nine points in 27 minutes the next night against Indiana. He took just 11 total shots across those two outings and appeared passive and disengaged, frequently standing in the corner on offense. His usage rate in those two games was 12.6% — it had been 21.6% prior to Jan. 1.

Heat Notes: Butler, Adebayo, Love, Ware, Richardson

January 14th, 2025 at 10:01am CST by Arthur Hill

It seems increasingly likely that Jimmy Butler will be rejoining the Heat when they return from their six-game road trip, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Butler, who is nearing the end of his suspension, has been working out at the team facility and is expected to return to the court on Friday if he’s still on the roster.

Team officials have been hoping to resolve the situation with a trade, but they reportedly haven’t made much progress. A source tells Chiang that Miami has engaged in trade talks with several teams over the past week, but isn’t close to making a deal.

In his latest Substack column (subscriber-only), Jake Fischer dives into some of the “conduct detrimental to the team” that the Heat cited when they imposed Butler’s suspension. League sources tell Fischer that Butler has skipped several morning shootarounds and has insisted on taking private flights to some games rather than traveling on the charter with his teammates.

In addition to not getting the contract extension that he wanted, Butler’s dissatisfaction may stem from the loss of several players whom he considered to be close friends, Fischer theorizes. Max Strus, Gabe Vincent and Caleb Martin, who were starters on the team that reached the NBA Finals in 2023, all left in free agency over the past two offseasons.

“Those were [Butler’s] guys,” a source told Fischer.

Miami isn’t willing to move Butler just to get rid of a problem, adds Kurt Helin of NBC Sports. The front office is focused on finding players who can help the team win this season while taking back as little future salary as possible. The organization wants to rebuild around Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro without being burdened by another large contract.

There’s more on the Heat:

Adebayo was a late scratch for Monday’s game due to a lower back contusion, Chiang states in a separate story. He had been expected to play earlier in the day, but he was downgraded to questionable during the afternoon before being ruled out a few hours before game time. Adebayo was hurt Saturday in Portland when he fell to the court while trying to catch a pass. “He’s been dealing with it for a few days,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s getting a lot of treatment and it kind of seized up on him this morning. But we’ll treat him day to day and we’ll reevaluate him.”
With Adebayo unavailable, Spoelstra gave the start to Kevin Love, who had appeared in just one of the previous 12 games, Chiang adds. Love made three three-pointers in the first seven minutes Monday night, but didn’t score again, finishing with nine points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of action. Most of the center minutes went to rookie Kel’el Ware, who had 13 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter and now seems like an established part of the rotation. “Kel’el has been playing really well,” Spoelstra said. “And he had a very good game tonight. … He’s making progress. It seems to be every day that he’s learning something new.”
Josh Richardson has returned to Miami to have an MRI on his heel and will miss the final game of the road trip Wednesday against the Lakers, the Heat announced (via Twitter). Richardson hasn’t appeared in a game since November 18.

Stein’s Latest: Nets, Butler, Giannis, Suns, Nembhard, Coaches

January 12th, 2025 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets are the only NBA team projected to have maximum-salary cap room during the 2025 offseason, but they have no plans to pursue Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who could be the biggest free agent on the market next summer, reports Marc Stein in his latest Substack article.

According to Stein, despite their impressive cap flexibility and stash of future draft assets, the Nets aren’t necessarily locked in on the idea of pursuing a star via trade or in free agency over the summer — if no favorable opportunities to land a star arise, they may simply be patient and continue building through the draft.

On the other hand, if Giannis Antetokounmpo were to become available, that would substantially alter the Nets’ plans, according to Stein, who says rumblings around the NBA suggest the Bucks forward would be Brooklyn’s “dream target” and that the Nets would make a push for him if Milwaukee were willing to trade him. That’s probably a long shot this year though, since have been no indications the Bucks would ever consider moving Antetokounmpo unless he specifically asked for it.

Here’s more from Stein:

Stein is the latest reporter to confirm that there’s strong mutual interest between the Suns and Butler. “I’ve heard they want him bad,” one league source told Stein. Still, until Phoenix can find a taker for Bradley Beal and get Beal to sign off on that destination, the Suns don’t have a path to acquiring the Heat forward.
Andrew Nembhard would be an ideal target for a team facing apron restrictions due to his $2.02MM cap hit, his long-term team control, and his lack of poison pill restrictions following his extension. However, Stein says the Pacers guard is considered one of the most valuable assets on Indiana’s roster and is viewed as essentially “off-limits” in trade talks.
Taking an early look at the Coach of the Year race, Stein describes Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers as the clear favorite and says he’d fill out his hypothetical ballot with Jamahl Mosley of the Magic at No. 2 and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons at No. 3. Rockets head coach Ime Udoka earns an honorable mention.

Heat Notes: Butler, Herro, Jovic, Highsmith

January 12th, 2025 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

When the Heat announced that they’d suspended Jimmy Butler for seven games, they explained the decision by stating that the veteran forward had engaged in “multiple instances of conduct detrimental to the team.” However, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel hears from a source close to the situation that the club at one point sought to suspend Butler for a “failure to render services.”

The difference wouldn’t have just been a matter of semantics. As Winderman outlines, a standard suspension for conduct detrimental to the team costs a player 1/145th of his full-season salary per game. In Butler’s case, that works out to $2,355,798 over seven games. However, when a player is suspended for a failure to render services, it costs him 1/91.6th of his salary per game — that would’ve resulted in $3,729,157 in lost salary for the 35-year-old.

Based on Winderman’s reporting, it’s unclear whether the Heat reconsidered taking that route or were prevented from doing so — it presumably would’ve required the club to prove that Butler, who had been playing in games leading up to the suspension, had refused to render the services required by his contract.

Hours after the Heat initially announced the seven-game ban, the National Basketball Players Association put out a statement indicating it intended to file a grievance. It’s safe to assume the NBPA’s objections to the suspension would’ve been even more vociferous if the team had accused Butler of a failure to render services and attempted to recoup more of his salary.

Here’s more on the Heat:

After suffering demoralizing losses to Utah and Sacramento in the first two games of Butler’s suspension, the Heat have righted the ship, beating Portland on Saturday for their third straight victory. As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald points out, two players who were believed to be part of Miami’s 2023 trade offer for then-Blazers guard Damian Lillard led the way in the victory, as Tyler Herro scored a game-high 32 points and Nikola Jovic contributed a personal season-high of 21 points to go along with eight rebounds and five assists. “I like his improvement,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said of Jovic. “He’s playing with more consistency. He’s preparing with more consistency.”
Jackson notes within the same Herald story that starting Haywood Highsmith at power forward has been a winning formula for Miami this season — the club is 17-11 when he starts and just 3-6 when he doesn’t. “He was great tonight,” Spoelstra said after Satuday’s win. “He gives us, when he’s at his best, point of attack defense, harassing other teams’ better guards and wing players. It’s a thankless job except in our locker room.” Highsmith re-signed with the Heat as an unrestricted free agent during the 2024 offseason on a two-year, $10.8MM deal.
Road wins in Golden State, Utah, and Portland this week show that the Heat aren’t unraveling without Butler, Jackson writes in a separate article for The Miami Herald. Highsmith told reporters that “the vibes are great,” while Herro said the club has rediscovered its identity. “Just rallying around each other, making it about the guys that are here now, the guys that are in this locker room,” Herro said. “We’ve got enough, and that’s all that matters. This is what we wanted to get back on the road, get away from all the chaos and come out here and compete and get back to who we are and get to our identity.”
The Lakers‘ and Clippers‘ home games on Saturday were postponed due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, but the Heat flew to L.A. on Saturday and are expecting for now to play the Clippers on Monday and Lakers on Wednesday, says Jackson.

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