MIAMI — After playing for the first time in two weeks following his seven-game suspension from the Miami Heat, forward Jimmy Butler said Friday night that he and the franchise “are where we are” regarding their relationship unless three weeks from the beginning of February. 6 trade deadline.
“I guess it’s basketball at this point,” Butler said after scoring 18 points in 33 minutes in a 133-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the Kasaya Center. “I know what I’m expected to do while I’m here and I try to do it the best I can, but we are where we are.”
The situation hasn’t changed much since the team waived Butler a couple of weeks ago: The star forward still wants a trade away from the shores of Biscayne Bay, and the Heat have yet to find an acceptable deal.
Butler, who arrived at the arena for the team’s afternoon tour, returned to the starting lineup Friday night. He made 7 of 15 field goals and finished with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and a turnover.
“[Got to] “Getting him acclimated again,” Heat center Bam Adebayo said of Butler’s return. “I mean, we know what Jimmy is capable of, so it’s no surprise that he found his groove at some point, and moving forward, I feel like that’s going to continue.” find his rhythm and we will continue trying to win games.
In Friday’s game, Butler looked far from the player who has led the Heat to the conference finals three times and the NBA Finals twice in the last five seasons. His average touch duration was 2.75 seconds, according to Second Spectrum (the lowest in any game as a member of the Heat), and he averaged 1.6 dribbles per touch, which was his second-lowest figure of the season.
However, when asked about Butler’s effort level after the game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra directed the question at Miami’s poor defense against the Nuggets and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who scored 24 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I don’t know,” Spoelstra said when asked if Butler needs to get more involved offensively. “Obviously we haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks. He hasn’t played many games, so that’s probably part of it.
“I know what stories you’re looking for. I’m not going to feed any of that tonight. We got our asses kicked. I know what you want to talk about. I know what I saw out there. From a defensive standpoint, it wasn’t good enough, and that’s it.” It’s three games in a row. We figure out our identity of how we can win games and then. [the last] In three games, we haven’t been able to put that together, commit to that side of the floor, and we’ve paid the price.”
Spoelstra’s sentiment was similar to his pregame media session on Friday, when he said the Heat were going to treat the game as close to normal as possible.
“We work in a complex league,” Spoelstra said before the game. “We’re in an unusual place right now, but really everything is complex and we plan to operate within this complexity. My job is to prepare this team and prepare it to play at a high level, and that’s what I’m doing. That’s the plan .
“My methods of doing so are really none of your business. You’re all looking for drama, I’m looking to prepare this team to play at a high level. And as for dumb questions like, ‘What’s the temperature?’ of the room ?’ or ‘How is everyone feeling?’ That sounds very dramatic. We are professional, we are good. We are ready for the game tonight and that is the only thing that matters. We are looking forward to getting back in the woods for a while, and we are full, so we are looking forward to this. be warned.”
But until Butler is traded, or until the trade deadline passes, the questions will continue. When Butler was asked if the situation could be fixed, or if he still wanted to find his “joy” again (which he said after a game against the Pacers on Jan. 2), he responded “no comment” on both occasions.
When Butler was asked what would happen if he was still on the team on Feb. 7, he smiled.
“We’re playing a lot of ‘what ifs,’ aren’t we?” Butler said. “I’m going to play basketball.”
Sources have maintained that the Heat want to find a deal that fits Butler’s wishes. But the Heat are looking for a trade that brings back some combination of players who can help the Heat win now, recruiting capital, short-term moving salary and young talent.
So far, however, that deal has not materialized, and it is far from certain that it will materialize before the deadline.
Butler made it clear after Friday’s game that he has no problems with his teammates.
“It felt good to go out and compete and race with these guys,” Butler said. “As much as everyone may think, I don’t have a problem with these guys. These guys are great. They’re my friends… My problem is not with them and it never will be. It never has been. But it felt good to go out and play basketball.”
