Just In: LA Lakers report signing Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler for $180 Million
Jimmy Butler is preparing for the 2024-25 NBA season with the Miami Heat, but he’s also thinking about free agency next summer if he opts out of his deal.
Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Butler “likes” the Brooklyn Nets and is inclined to test the market unless he can get a max deal from the Heat beforehand.
Butler and the Heat have been at odds about his contract status since the end of last season.
Heat president Pat Riley told reporters in May that the organization hadn’t discussed an extension at that point.
“We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it,” Riley said. “We don’t have to do it until 2025, actually. But we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on it, and we haven’t really in earnest discussed it.”
Riley also pushed back against Butler’s comment that the Heat would have beaten the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the playoffs if he had been available to play.
“I thought, ‘Is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious?'” Riley said. “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut on the criticism of those teams.”
Butler missed all five games of Miami’s first-round playoff series against the Celtics due to a sprained MCL.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported on June 26 that Butler decided to play out his existing contract and wouldn’t sign an extension with them—or another club if he happened to get traded—ahead of his opt-out after next season.
Butler has been eligible to sign a two-year extension worth up to $112.9 million with the Heat since July 7.
The Nets kickstarted a rebuild earlier this summer by trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks and a separate deal with the Houston Rockets.
Those two trades landed the Nets six unprotected future first-round draft picks between 2025 and 2031, plus an unprotected pick swap from the Knicks in 2028. They could have as many as four first-round picks in the 2025 draft that looks very promising right now.
Brooklyn does project to have $70 million in cap space next summer. The money combined with additional draft capital could allow the team to fast-track a rebuild if they can add star talent via free agency and/or trades.
Butler is a hard player to assess because he’s going to turn 35 on Sept. 14 and has missed at least 18 regular-season games in each of the past four seasons.
When Butler is healthy, he is still fantastic and a difference-maker on both ends of the court. The six-time All-Star averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game in 60 starts last season.