Jimmy Butler Will Not Sign Extension With Heat, Free Agency Possible In 2025

by Patrick MoquinJune 27, 2024, 6:53 pmDaily Digest, News >

Heat star Jimmy Butler will reportedly not sign an extension with Miami or any other team this summer, which would make him a free agent next year. This practically ensures that Butler will play the 2024-25 season with the Heat, but his future beyond that is now unclear.

Because Butler has specified that he is not seeking any sort of extension, it is unlikely that the Heat will trade the forward with one year remaining on his contract. It’s possible that the 34-year-old will revive extension talks at a later date, but Butler has a player option next summer that gives him more flexibility, allowing for another season for the Heat or some other arrangement in free agency.

In the 2022-23 season, Butler proved extremely valuable to the Heat, delivering an awe-inspiring postseason performance and propelling the eight-seeded team to the NBA Finals. This season, the team’s playoff run was cut short when Butler suffered a season-ending injury. Miami made it past the Play-In Tournament but fell to the Boston Celtics in five games.

With Butler seemingly rejoining big man Bam Adebayo, who signed a team-friendly three-year deal earlier this off-season, the Heat should remain a consistent contender in the Eastern Conference. The clock is ticking for Butler, however, as the star will soon turn 35 and only has so many seasons remaining to win his first NBA Championship.

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In June 2023, when the Heat were on the doorstep of an NBA Finals win before losing to the Denver Nuggets, Butler spelled out exactly what a ring would mean to him.

“Everything,” Butler said, according to ESPN. “What are you talking about? That’s why everybody plays this game — I lied, that’s why a lot of people play this game — is to win a championship. Everybody here — is to win a championship. That’s all we lock in on; that’s all we’re focused on. Like we put so much energy towards winning and playing for one another that if we do this together, we get to celebrate this together, we’re like, I don’t know the word, itched, niched, we made our mark in history together forever, so we’re in that.”