Pat Riley is trying to quiet the distractions around Jimmy Butler’s status, and put out a statement saying the Heat will not trade their disgruntled star before the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline.
In an NBA Christmas tradition unlike any other, Wednesday saw ESPN’s Shams Charania kick off the league’s annual holiday showcase by reporting that Jimmy Butler wants out of Miami — but, importantly, did not go so far as to say Butler is “demanding” a trade, which may save the Heat star from getting fined by Adam Silver.
But NBA stars wanting to change teams is nothing new. The twist in this saga is that in general, their organizations do not respond publicly to such rumors.
In that respect, the Heat may have just given us a first for the league on the day after Christmas: A team posting a statement from their social media accounts in which their team president (in this case, Pat Riley) directly shoots down said trade rumors:
Statement from Pat Riley
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) December 26, 2024
"We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear - We are not trading Jimmy Butler."
For those of you keeping score at home, that is now both the team (the Heat) and the agent for Butler (Bernie Lee) firing back at Shams’ reporting on this saga publicly despite — at least in theory — being on opposite sides in this dispute.
The funniest part of this, though, despite its lack of real precedence, is that this somehow isn’t even the most unhinged quote Pat Riley has ever had the Heat issue to the press on his behalf. That honor will always go to his statement about Danny Ainge after the latter commented on then-Heat star LeBron James’ officiating complaints:
Message from Pat Riley: " Danny Ainge needs to STFU." Yes, this is real. Delivered by Heat spokesman Tim Donovan.
— Joseph Goodman, Sports Donk (@JoeGoodmanJr) March 29, 2013
So if Shams doubles down on his reporting again, we know Riles is ready to escalate and put some four-letter words on Miami Heat letterhead, so the league’s lead insider better watch out. But why did Riley put this out now? Here’s the context...
Riley’s statement comes amidst other Heat stakeholders starting to get asked about all the rumors around Butler’s status,
Erik Spoelstra in response to the ongoing speculation around Jimmy Butler:
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) December 26, 2024
“You have to compartmentalize in this business. We want Jimmy here. There’s no ifs, ands or buts about it. And it’s just unfortunate that you have to control or deal with a lot of the noise on the… pic.twitter.com/wt5TjpeEbz
Bam Adebayo on the ongoing Jimmy Butler trade speculation:
— Hot Hot Hoops (@hothothoops) December 26, 2024
“You go out there and you win games. That’s how you keep the distractions out. You go out there and win games, do it together. They’ll handle everything behind closed doors.
“Obviously, you have the business side of it.… pic.twitter.com/QENx9zhfJI
With that in mind, it makes sense that Riley would try to quiet the noise around his team as they try to scratch and claw to remain above play-in territory in the Eastern Conference (they are currently in sixth place with a 14-13 overall record heading into a matchup with the Orlando Magic on Thursday night).
And this should put a stop to all the whispers, because as we all know, NBA team executives have never, ever lied, so obviously Jimmy is staying put.
However, if you don’t believe Riley and the Heat here, at the very least it doesn’t seem like Butler is moving imminently, if his agent’s latest tweet is any indication:
You still need me to comment or can I go back to putting together these 35 self propelling non battery toys sitting on my floor because my wife is a millennial …. https://t.co/oln8IMTq07
— Bernard Lee (@BernieoLee) December 26, 2024
Being forced to work over the holidays because of a Shams Charania tweet? Maybe player agents, team PR staffers, Pat Riley and NBA bloggers have more in common than we had previously realized.
Pat, I’d love to get ergonomic keyboard recommendations! Can you have the Heat issue a statement with your favorites? I’m gonna put it on my list for next year so I’m ready for 2026 trade season.
