Star ahead Jimmy Butler stays in Miami and gained’t rejoin the Warmth till after they return from their present highway journey, the crew introduced at present (via Twitter).
Which means Butler, who’s being listed as out as a consequence of return-to-competition reconditioning following an sickness, will miss video games in Atlanta on Saturday and in Houston on Sunday earlier than rejoining the Warmth forward of Wednesday’s recreation vs. the Pelicans in Miami. This weekend’s contests would be the fourth and fifth in a row that Butler has missed.
In keeping with Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, the unique expectation had been that Butler would journey to Orlando to satisfy up with the membership following Thursday’s recreation vs. the Magic and can be on the crew flight to Atlanta on Friday.
The timing of Butler’s absence is notable, on condition that ESPN reported on Wednesday he prefers to be traded out of Miami and crew president Pat Riley announced on Thursday that the 35-year-old isn’t going wherever. Whereas there’s little doubt Butler was legitimately sick, it’ll increase some eyebrows that he’ll find yourself lacking three video games as a consequence of “return-to-competition conditioning” after lacking simply two as a consequence of that sickness.
Nonetheless, there was no affirmation from the crew or from reporters that Butler’s prolonged restoration interval is linked to these latest commerce rumors or Riley’s assertion.
We’ll see what the six-time All-Star has to say concerning the scenario throughout his first media availability after the Warmth return house early subsequent week. Till then, it stays doable that issues might escalate as an alternative of quieting down, although a number of reviews indicated earlier this week that Butler is ok with the concept of ending out the season in Miami and intends to stay skilled.
As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets, the Warmth introduced on Thursday that they don’t intend to maneuver Butler for just a few causes: They’re comfy with their choices with Butler subsequent summer time, even when he opts out of his contract; they wish to win as many video games as doable this season and imagine Butler helps them do this; and there had been no indication that they have been going to obtain a commerce supply they liked.
