There’s been a lot of questions concerning Jimmy Butler’s future in South Beach, especially after Heat president Pat Riley said this week that he still isn’t convinced about extending his contract. According to insider Rohan Nadkarni, the guard told him he wishes to end his NBA career in Miami, but then retire from basketball in another country.
The six-time All-Star, who fell to injury and missed out on his squad’s playoff run, opened up about playing for Flamingo in Brazil’s premier basketball league. However, he guarantees that he doesn’t want to play for any other NBA franchise, other than the Heat.
“I mean, yeah. In the NBA? For sure,” he said about South Beach being his last stop in the league. “But then after that, I really do want to play for Flamengo. I tell everybody, I’m half-Brazilian.”
JIMMY TO BRAZIL? Jimmy Butler wants to end his career with the Miami Heat, but he’d definitely be up for playing for Flamengo in Brazil’s premier basketball league (Novo Basquete Brasil) when his days in the NBA are over.
“I mean, yeah. In the NBA? For sure,” Butler told Rohan… pic.twitter.com/Xa5r5xZcT0
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) May 8, 2024
This Monday, Riley set the record straight about the commitment he’s looking for within the Miami culture. When asked about Jimmy’s future, he assured that the front office will only offer him a contract extension if the star shows willingness to take care of his health and be more disciplined.
The Heat guard seems destined to ask for a two-year extension this offseason, as it could potentially guarantee him $113 million for the following campaigns in Miami. However, the team’s president revealed that he’s not entirely sure if they will offer this deal, as they are analysing their options.
“We have not discussed that internally right now,” Pat assured. “We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it. We don’t have to do it until 2025, actually. But we’ll see. We haven’t made a decision on it, and we haven’t really in earnest discussed it.”
The Florida club was recently eliminated at the hands of the Celtics, but Jimmy wasn’t able to play during the entirety of their Round 1 playoff loss. The veteran suffered a knee injury right when his team needed him the most, during the Play-in Tournament.
“That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you have somebody who’s going to be there and available every single night,” Riley insisted. “That’s the truth.”
The Heat president believes that roster availability has been the team’s biggest problem in recent years
Even though players like captain Bam Adebayo played 71 games and even rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 75 matches this season, Riley insists that roster availability has been their main curse in recent years. Other stars like Tyler Herro, who missed out on 40 regular-season games, or even Butler’s 22, have affected the squad greatly.
“We’ve got a really good group of guys and the No. 1 issue is player availability and having your guys healthy to play every night,” Pat insisted. “And we have to wrap our arms around that notion.”
You can bet that Riley knows what he’s talking about, as he’s one of the most successful coaches and executives to ever participate in the NBA. Not only has he been a part of the league for 42 seasons with teams like Lakers, Knicks and Heat, he’s also accumulated 2,372 victories throughout his career, which are the most in history by a single individual or franchise.
“Until you change the way you go about doing the things that are necessary to win, whatever they are, those things you’re doing to try to win, if they aren’t working, let’s change,” said the Miami president. “And so, that doesn’t mean that change is a sinister word here. … We have to change some things, but we surely are not going to rip anything apart here.”
