The Heat Are Now Suspending Jimmy Butler For A THIRD Time After He Walked Out Of Shootaround After Learning He Wasn't Going To Start

Megan Briggs. Getty Images.

OK I have to admit, every update we get about Jimmy Butler and his trade saga gets funnier and funnier with each Shams tweet. Today was supposed to be a big day for everyone, with Butler finally returning to the team after his second suspension, this time for "missing a team flight". Maybe you buy into the leaks that the team changed the flight time and that's why Butler missed, despite ya know, everyone else on the team being aware of the change. Maybe you buy into the idea that the Heat did this intentionally just to find a way to keep Butler away from the team. Whatever angle you prefer, the point is today was "supposed" to be his return.

The problem? The Heat have once again suspended Jimmy Butler, for a 3rd time, and this one is indefinitely. The reason for this latest decision?

I mean good grief Jimmy Butler, would it kill you to be a professional? It should come as no surprise that after all the time he's missed and then not even looking all that good when he did play, the Heat would not start him. Why should they? He's been nothing but a negative both on and off the floor for weeks now. Why should his starting spot be set in stone? Just because he's Jimmy Butler?

So you hear that change and you storm out of shootaround like a baby, thus forcing the team to suspend you indefinitely?

It makes me immediately think back to earlier reports we got legitimately 10 days ago that Jimmy was only getting started in terms of making this whole thing an even bigger disaster

I guess this qualifies because honestly, you have to be a Grade A dickhead to pull everything Butler has done these last few months and then act like the victim when the team decides to operate in their best interest. They tried to bring him back like nothing happened the first time, and how did that go? At some point, the team needs to operate in a post-Jimmy Butler manner, and if he doesn't like it, he has only himself to blame! Nobody forced Butler to be in this position other than Butler, so I'm not sure why any of this would be a surprise to him.

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I know the NBPA was going to fight the previous Heat suspensions, but that's sort of out the window now right? What choice does the team have in this instance? Butler refuses to make team flights, and now he's leaving shootarounds because he's not a starter, all while being the cause of all this drama in the first place? Boo hoo, Pat Riley didn't want to give you another 120M extension at your age and skill level. You unfortunately only have the $52M player option remaining after this season. The horror! 

Now while that says "indefinitely" we all know what that means. It just means until the trade deadline when Butler is no longer a member of the Miami Heat. At this point, I don't see how they don't take whatever the best offer is on the market, whether that's fair value or 60 cents on the dollar. If you have to "lose" the trade, so be it. Get assets and move on. If you can send Butler somewhere he doesn't want to be out of spite, even better I guess?

Imagine they don't trade him though and instead just sit him for the rest of the year? What happens then? Does the league office step in? I feel like that's uncharted waters so part of me hopes we see it.

But at the end of the day, it's more realistic that eventually, Pat Riley will hit "accept" on a trade and Butler will be onto his next franchise to destroy. We used to think it was just the dysfunction of teams like CHI/PHI/MIN that was the issue when it came to Butler, but the more this drama plays out it's becoming clearer and clearer that the problem might actually be Jimmy himself. Imagine that!