Jimmy Butler, the star player for the Heat, turned 35 in September, so it was a positive development earlier in the offseason when reports surfaced that he had backed off on his demand for a contract extension worth up to $113 million over two years on top of the $101 million Miami already owes him. The Heat had no intention of paying that much for a player who had difficulty staying healthy the previous season.

The Heat benefited from Butler’s change of heart, which was revealed by The Athletic in late June. It ended rumours that Butler would try to get traded from the franchise and join a team that would pay him the extra two seasons. The talk was centred on the Sixers and Warriors.

But pursuing Paul George to create free agency was the top priority for both of those teams. Perhaps more concerning for Butler is the fact that no teams were prepared to commit to giving him the maximum salary beyond his current contract, especially after George joined Philadelphia.

It won’t get any simpler next summer if his deal proved to be too onerous for other teams this summer. The Miami Herald, which ran the calculations and examined Butler’s situation this week, is issuing that warning to Butler. It concluded that, “No serious title contender would have the ability to sign Butler into space next summer without moving significant money.”

Heat Would Be in Danger of Losing a Star Player With Nothing Coming Back in Return

Naturally, as Herald reporter Barry Jackson noted, there are two ways in which the risk can arise. The Heat are as likely to lose out on Butler with nothing in exchange as Butler is to not sign a new max contract with the Heat next summer. The deal might be worth four years and $243 million with the Heat or three years and $171 million with another team.

The Heat would be able to use their $13 million mid-level exception and fall comfortably below the luxury tax if Butler were to leave. However, it would not free up enough room to sign a max free agent, not without the salary of Terry Rozier and maybe Duncan Robinson being sacrificed.

Finding a sign-and-trade deal, which would need Butler and the Heat to find a team willing to make a trade that is nearly equal, would probably be Butler’s last chance to find a new team on a max deal.

Without the Heat’s cooperation to enable a sign-and-trade, Jackson stated that “very few teams (aside from teams in rebuilds) could realistically clear out the cap space to sign Butler to a max deal or anything close to it.” “Therefore, if Butler leaves the Heat in the summer of 2020, a sign-and-trade is the more likely scenario. Butler leaving the Heat for nothing is a possibility, but it’s not very likely.

Jimmy Butler’s 2023–24 performance was disappointing and marred.

If Butler just gets better and plays like he did last year, then all of this could be for naught.

Butler had a dismal 2023–24 season after leading the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in 2023 despite only receiving the No. 8 seed in the East. Despite playing in just 60 games and missing out on an All-Star berth for the second consecutive year, he averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists, surpassing the 20-5-5 mark for the fourth consecutive season.

Prior to Miami’s matchup with the Celtics, Butler sustained a knee injury during the Heat’s play-in game. The Heat lost the series in five games because he was absent the whole time.

Team president Pat Riley, who is typically a fervent Butler booster, publicly chastised Butler following the playoff loss, which stoked rumours about the player’s long-term stability with the organisation.

Riley chastised Butler for mocking the Celtics and Knicks during their postseason run, claiming that if he hadn’t been hurt, the teams would have been playing at home.

“When he said that, I wondered if Jimmy was being serious or just trolling.”Riley stated in May. “You should keep your mouth shut when criticising Boston and the New York Knicks if you’re not on the court playing against them.”