Where there's smoke there's fire, and that's the case with Jimmy Butler trade rumors, as he has now officially requested a trade away from the Miami Heat.
The latest from ESPN’s Shams Charania:
Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler has told the Miami Heat that he wants the team to trade him, league sources told ESPN.
Sources told ESPN, “Butler is not planning to provide the Heat with a list of popular destinations. Sources say he is willing to play anywhere but Miami and believes he can make any team a contender — no matter what.” Where he's being moved. Sources say he does plan to participate in all team activities and will plan to do whatever the Heat asks of him along the way.
In the Heat's 128-115 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night, Butler scored just nine points on just six shots, a team-low minus-27.
He said after the game that he lost the joy of playing in Miami.
“I would love to see me rediscover the joy of playing basketball. Wherever that is, we'll find out soon,” Butler said. “I'm happy off the court, but I want to get back to a level of dominance, I want to play basketball, I want to help this team win, and right now I'm not doing that.”
When asked if he could rediscover his joy on the court with the Heat, Butler responded: “Probably not.”
“One of the issues that led to Butler's decision was that team officials suggested Thursday that he didn't exert his maximum effort in the Heat's win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday,” Shams said. “Butler was out due to illness.” In the first game 13 days later, he took just 5 shots in 25 games and scored 9 points in that game.
“Either way, I'm going to play; whether I score nine points or 29 points, I'm going to play,” Butler said Thursday night. “You're not going to say I'm not playing hard enough. It may seem that way because my usage rate is down and I'm not shooting as often, but (you can't say) I'm not playing hard enough.
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