Will Jimmy Butler sit out Heat games until he's traded?

In nearly six years with the Miami Heat, star wing Jimmy Butler has led the team to the NBA Finals twice, and the Eastern Conference finals three times. Absent a ring, he has been the conference's most consistently dominant player alongside Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics since LeBron James' departure to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, this era is coming to an end.

While Butler's success with the Heat is undeniable, his time with the organization has been marred by significant stretches of missed time. Butler's injury battles — alongside other frustration-inducing moments — reached a boiling point at the end of last season when he missed the Heat's first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics, but still commented on the series itself. In an off-season press conference, Team President and Minority Owner Pat Riley said the following.

This started the summer of speculation. Butler was due for a potential contract extension, and it was obvious he would want a max extension even though he's entering his late thirties and has a history of battling injuries. The Heat appeared to have no interest in a max-extension for Butler, little discussion was had in the summer of 2024, and then the season began. With Butler on the court, and the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers getting off to slow starts, the Heat battled for a top-6 seed and automatic playoff berth. Butler played well, but talks about a potential extension were still at a standstill.

In December, it was then reported that Butler wanted a change of scenery and to be moved by the Feb. 6 trade deadline. On Christmas Day, Riley responded by saying, "We are not trading Jimmy Butler."

A week later, Butler told reporters, "I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball and wherever that may be, we'll find out pretty soon. I want to get my joy back. I'm happy here off the court, but I want to be back to somewhat dominant, I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. Right now, I'm not doing that."

Three days into the new year, the Heat suspended Butler for seven games for "conduct detrimental to the team over the course of the season and particularly the last several weeks" and stated they would be willing to listen to trade offers. Butler will be eligible to return from his suspension for the Heat's Friday night home game against the Denver Nuggets. That begs the question:

Will Jimmy Butler sit out Heat games until he's traded?

The first part of this is whether or not Butler is willing to take this strong of a stance to get what he wants. The answer is unequivocally yes. In the modern star empowerment era, players have been largely rewarded for throwing tantrums to have their demands yet, and no one — sans maybe James Harden, who told a bunch of children in another country that his general manager was a liar to try to get what he wanted — throws tantrums like Butler. He is regarded around the league as one of the hardest-working, yet most difficult stars to manage.

The next part of this, is that if Butler is willing to do this, what can the Heat do to stop him? We can thank Harden for a potential answer to this question. When Harden was seeking a trade away from the Sixers at the end of the 2023 offseason he made it clear he had no intention of returning to training camp or playing for the Sixers. He was prepared to sit out the last year of his contract like Butler might be willing to do, and pursue free agency the following summer.

Here is what the league's recently signed collective bargaining agreement says about players in the last year of their contracts holding out:

"A player who withholds playing services called for by a Player Contract for more than thirty (30) days after the start of the last Season covered by his Player Contract shall be deemed not to have complet[ed] his Player Contract by rendering the playing services called for thereunder. Accordingly, such a player shall not be a Veteran Free Agent and shall not be entitled to negotiate or sign a Player Contract with any other professional basketball team unless and until the Team for which the player last played expressly agrees otherwise."

If Butler pulls out all the stops and refuses to play this season, without the blessing of Riley and the Heat, he might be at risk of forfeiting his status as a free agent this offseason. That would mean the Heat and Butler relationship would be forced to continue until an agreed-upon divorce happens.

Butler might be willing to take the risk, but the Heat might not care at all and allow him to sit out and decline his player option, and pursue free agency this summer if they can't find a trade by Feb. 6. In short, this saga is clearly far from over, and like all things with Butler, it is capable of getting significantly worse.