Jimmy Butler has not requested a trade and would like to remain with the Miami Heat, but if they listen to offers he reportedly would have interest in a move to either the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors or Phoenix Suns. Butler’s agent, Bernie Lee, criticized Shams Charania’s reporting on the situation in a series of posts on X on Wednesday. While on ESPN’s First Take on Thursday morning, Charania
“I one thousand percent stand by my reporting,” said Charania. “It is fully vetted. As a professional, that’s what I do. That’s what I get paid to do. That’s what I’m going to do, report truthfully and accurately. That’s what this is. Period.”
Charania reiterated that Butler has not requested a trade from the Heat.
“He has not requested a trade as of yet,” said Charania.
“From what I understand, I think Jimmy Butler’s preference would be to sign an extension in Miami,” added Brian Windhorst. “He had hoped to do that actually last summer, but Pat Riley came out at the end of last season and said that’s not what the Heat are doing. And they still haven’t made any progress on that. I think that’s what he would like to do. I think he would like to stay there.”
Butler can become a free agent this coming offseason, which gives him some level of control over the process.
“This is just the beginning of what I think will be a lot of that you hear about Jimmy Butler in the coming days and weeks,” added Windhorst.