What could Jimmy Butler command in trade if Heat reject extension request? Scout offers insight.

MIAMI — The Heat now face their most difficult decision of the summer: Whether to grant Jimmy Butler’s impending request to essentially replace the two years and $101.2 million remaining on his contract with a three-year deal worth $161 million.

Butler, who turns 35 in September, has some leverage in this.

If the Heat refuse to give him the specific dollar amount he’s seeking — which would entail paying him $58.6 million when he’s 37 — he could ask for a trade and become a temporary distraction/malcontent, as he did in Minnesota before forcing his way to Philadelphia in the months before he joined the Heat in 2019 free agency.

It’s important to note that it’s unknown if Butler would request a trade or lash out if not given the extension. That would remain a mystery unless the Heat reject his request.

But if he publicly requested a trade and made clear that he would expect any team trading for him to extend his contract, that could further diminish what might be a limited market.

And it would make it challenging for the Heat to get a package commensurate in value to Butler’s skill level.

That’s why Butler holds at least some of the leverage in this situation. If Miami refuses the lucrative extension, he could make life not only difficult for the Heat, but essentially force the Heat to take a mediocre trade offer for Butler, or otherwise risk the type of preseason drama that no team likes.

It’s unknown if the Heat will acquiesce to Butler’s request, and it’s a decision that ownership and top management will need to talk through before he becomes extension eligible on July 7.

What would a trade market for Butler be, if the Heat goes that route?

“Limited at best,” a veteran NBA scout said this week, adding that it becomes even more limited if he demands to be paid $48.8 million (he’s already due to make that), $54.3 million and $58.6 million the next three seasons, as opposed to the $48.8 million and $52.4 million that he’s now due to earn over the next two seasons, should he exercise the $52.4 million player option for 2025-26.

...continued

swipe to next page