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As the Miami Heat beat the Orlando Magic Thursday night, the team was once again without star Jimmy Butler for the third straight game as his next chance to play will be Saturday afternoon against the Atlanta Hawks. There is no doubt that Butler has been the face of trade speculation which no doubt has amplified since he hasn't traveled with the team for the past few games.
ClutchPoints can confirm that Butler did not travel with the team to Atlanta for the game, but there is a possibility that the star can re-join the team. However, Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald reported that there was an “expectation that Butler would meet with the team” after the aforementioned victory over the Magic.
“Amid ongoing trade speculation surrounding Jimmy Butler, he remains away from the Miami Heat,” Chiang wrote. “Following the Heat’s 89-88 win over the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on Thursday night to open a three-game trip, there was an expectation that Butler would meet the team in Orlando for its Friday afternoon flight in Atlanta. But Butler remains in Miami going through his ‘return to competition reconditioning’ process, according to a league source, and his status is in doubt for Saturday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena.”
Heat's Jimmy Butler has missed time due to “stomach illness”
Butler has missed the last three games with the first two due to a “stomach illness” and the last being because of the “return to competition reconditioning process.” It appears that he is staying in Miami for the process as he and the team await a development in his paying status for Saturday.
The trade speculation around the 35-year-old has amped up in recent days as it was reported by Shams Charania that Butler prefers to be traded by the Feb. 6 deadline. This being one of the many rumors about Butler, it got to the point where Heat president Pat Riley released a statement that flat out said that “we are not trading Jimmy Butler.”
“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,” Riley said via the statement that was posted to the team's official X, formerly Twitter, account.
A timeline of the last year with Heat's Jimmy Butler
A part of the many rumors has been the fractured relationship between the Heat and Butler as speaking of Riley, Butler was “caught off guard” when the legendary coach and executive said the player should “keep your mouth shut” according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. This was the same presser where Riley was non-committal about a contract extension for Butler.
This was about when Butler was on video saying that if he was healthy during the last playoffs, Miami would beat the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks.
“For him to say that, I thought, ‘Is that Jimmy trolling, or is that Jimmy serious?’” Riley said. “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut.”
He was also apparently “disappointed” that the team didn't publicly deny the ESPN report from Dec. 10 that they were “open” to listening to offers, which also included Butler preferring certain destinations if he were to be dealt. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke Thursday morning about the rumors and said “We want Jimmy here.”
“That’s just the deal,” Spoelstra said via The Miami Herald. “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 outside. In terms of this morning, this was a pretty focused group coming off of the last game that we came [to Orlando].”
Miami is 15-13 which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference as they hope to have Butler when they face the Hawks on Saturday afternoon.
