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The trade speculation around Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler has intensified with the latest report from Shams Charania of ESPN saying that the forward prefers to be dealt by the Feb. 6 deadline. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke about the trade rumors surrounding Butler to say straight up that “we want Jimmy here” according to Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
“That’s just the deal,” Spoelstra said Thursday morning at shootaround before Miami takes on the Orlando Magic. “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].”
“That’s all I’m going to talk about it,” Spoelstra continued. “The more any of us talk about it, the more fuel it gets. It’s just really unfortunate that it just continues to build momentum outside of our building.”
This has been a whole saga so far in terms of events in the relationship between Heat and Butler which has fractured according to recent reports. Butler is “doubtful” for Thursday night's game against the Orlando Magic and has missed the last three games due to a stomach illness, though it looked to be an ankle injury on a collision in the first quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Heat's Erik Spoelstra spoke before about Jimmy Butler rumors
It would not be the first time Spoelstra has spoken about the Butler trade rumors as he did so on Dec. 12 before the win over the Toronto Raptors where the report was that the team was “open” to a deal and that the star had preferred destinations. Spoelstra would express to ClutchPoints that the team can't get “sick at sea” over the outside noise.
“This is this profession,” Spoelstra said then. “Can't get sick at sea at some narratives that are going out there, that's going to happen, you know, in every organization at some point during a season, we're trying to build on something like, played three solid games, we're still not anywhere where we want to be, you know. So we have some work to do. And, you know, really getting ready for this final game of this home stand is the most important thing right now.”
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Asked Erik Spoelstra about the importance of mental toughness where they’re playing their best, but the organization is clouded with trade rumors.
“That’s this profession, you can’t get sick and see some narratives that are going out there, that’s going to happen…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/JTW8axbVaI
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 12, 2024
While the team would be on a four-game winning streak during that response, they would then go on a three-game skid which ended last Monday when the Heat beat the Brooklyn Nets without Butler. The Heat's captain in Bam Adebayo was also asked at shootaround how they don't let the trade speculation become a distraction.
“You go out there and you win games,” Adebayo said. “That’s how you keep the distractions out. You go out there and win games, do it together. They’ll handle everything behind closed doors.”
Heat's Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro on reactions to outside noise
Adebayo would then be asked straight up if there is a sense that Butler would want to be traded and the center would talk about the “business side of it” while also mentioning how the team handles the outside noise.
“Obviously, you have the business side of it. So at the end of the day, we’re all a family, we’re all in a brotherhood. So we’ll worry about the basketball games that we have to play,” Adebayo said. “How anybody else would deal with it, it’s a holiday, we’re with our families, so we’re going to worry about our families and worry about everything else later.”
Filling in for the offensive production that Butler brings, the Heat's All-Star hopeful in Tyler Herro would give his reaction to all the news surrounding his star teammate.
“I didn’t really have a reaction, honestly,” Herro said via The Miami Herald. “My focus is on my daughter and my son, and I haven’t really picked up my phone or worried about basketball until this morning. So, I don’t know.”
Miami is 14-13 as they start a three-game road trip Thursday against the Magic, where they had a major collapse Saturday.
