Jimmy Butler just erased the last excuse the Heat had for not trading him

Jimmy Butler was as clear as he possibly could have been after Thursday's Miami Heat loss to the Indiana Pacers. He is happy in the city of Miami. He is simply not happy with the Heat organization. Now, just minutes after his eye-opening postgame presser, Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst of ESPN reported that Butler has requested a trade out of Miami.

It felt like this was coming for a while. Butler was not pleased when the Heat refused to give him an extension after last season, and it has felt like he's been angling his way out of Miami ever since. There was even a point in time earlier this season when potential preferred suitors were leaked. Now, for the first time, Butler has officially requested a trade.

What was particularly interesting about Charania and Windhorst's report is that Butler wants to play anywhere but Miami. He believes he can make any team he ends up with a contender.

"Butler does not plan to furnish the Heat with a list of favored destinations, sources told ESPN. He is open to playing anywhere other than Miami and feels he can make any team a contender -- no matter where he is moved, sources said. He does plan to take part in all team activities and will plan to do whatever the Heat ask of him during this process, sources said."

Butler not hamstringing the Heat with a list of acceptable destinations like so many stars do when they ask out gives Miami literally no excuse for holding onto him much longer.

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Heat have no excuse but to grant Jimmy Butler's trade request

Pat Riley made Miami's stance clear just days ago. He said Butler wasn't going anywhere. That didn't make sense at the time he said it, and it makes even less sense now.

It's very evident Butler wants no part of being with the Heat any longer. His body language on the court says it all, and the trade request was just the final nail in the coffin. He's in the final year of his contract, and the Heat are just 17-15. They are not legitimate NBA Championship contenders, even in a weaker Eastern Conference. What's the point of holding onto him when he wants no part of being there?

Butler not giving the Heat a small list of teams to choose from makes it even more of a must to adhere to his request. The Heat can negotiate with 29 other teams for another month and change if they want to. Having the freedom to negotiate with every team ensures that they will be able to receive an acceptable return for what he's worth right now.

Butler might not be the superstar he once was, but he's still a player several contenders would be lucky to have. The Heat will almost certainly have an abundance of interested potential suitors calling.

This clearly isn't something that the Heat want to do, but there's no excuse for them not to do it at this point. Butler has been extremely public about how disgruntled he is, they won't win anything with him anyway, and they aren't forced to only talk to a select group of teams. At this point, it's for the best for both sides that Butler gets traded as soon as possible.