Miami Heat president Pat Riley recently made it known that the team had no intentions of trading Jimmy Butler.
Butler, however, made it known Thursday night that he very much wants to be traded.
The six-time All-Star said after Miami’s 128-115 loss to Indiana that he wants to ‘get my joy back from playing basketball. Wherever that may be. We’ll find out here pretty soon.’
Butler scored just nine points on six attempts during Thursday night’s loss. His comments came after he was asked about his role in the Heat’s offense.
Butler made it a point to say he was happy in Miami … ‘off the court.’
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‘I want to be back to (being) somewhat dominant. I want to hoop, and I want to help this team win. Right now I’m not doing that,’ Butler said
Asked if he could get his joy back on the court with Miami, Butler replied: ‘Probably not.’
Last week, Riley issued a simple statement commenting on Butler trade rumors. ‘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 in the statement.
Thursday’s events will only ramp up the speculation as the trade deadline draws near.