Jimmy Butler trade desire takes bizarre turn with joyless comment from Heat star

Jimmy Butler is happy in Miami. He is not happy with the Miami Heat. And it doesn't look like there's any way to fix that.

The six-time All-Star has been maneuvering for a trade out of Miami for a while now but the Heat haven't budged. His latest comments make it clear the divorce is inevitable. No amount of couples counseling will make things right.

"What do I want to see happen?" Butler said after Thursday night's loss to the Pacers. "I want see me get my joy back from playing basketball. Wherever that may be we'll find that 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."

Asked if he thinks he can get his joy back with his current team, his response couldn't have been more of a downer: "Probably not."

Jimmy Butler is a shell of himself on the court and in front of the media

Butler managed just nine points against the Pacers. He was 3-of-6 shooting. On Wednesday night, he was 3-of-5 against the Pelicans. That's not the volume anyone is used to seeing from him but that's the role he's taken on.

"It's not a tough adjustment to me. I'm going out there to compete to win either way. Whether I score nine points or 29 points. I will compete," Butler said.

Earlier, Erik Spoelstra told reporters he wanted to see Butler more at the point and more activated.

Butler shut that idea down: "That ain't going to fix it."

He rejected the idea that he's not playing hard.

At this point, whether he's playing hard or not is irrelevant. He wants out and his demeanor is becoming more and more of an issue for the Heat. How much longer can they hold out and resist trading away their best player when he's this far gone?

This story has one ending and it's time Miami accepted that.