ESPN's Shams Charania drops some Breaking News... Jimmy Butler tells Pat Riley face to face that he will not sign a new deal with the Miami Heat. Miami Herald Reporter for the Miami Heat Anthony Chiang joins the show at the perfect time to discuss Jimmy's chances now that they have been diminished, his meeting with Pat Riley, and his home return versus the Denver Nuggets.
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00:00Sham Sharani has just dropped a report.
00:03Leroy, it's Sharani, what, which, which is crazy.
00:10Go ahead and tell, and we'll break it.
00:13All right.
00:13Here's ESPN Sham Sharani, a Miami heat star, Jimmy Butler reiterated
00:19to team president, Pat Riley in a face-to-face meeting last week
00:25that he wants to be traded.
00:26Leak sources told ESPN Butler told Riley that he will not sign a new deal in
00:31Miami and intends to only use his $52 million player option in the off season
00:38for the, uh, 2020, uh, for a 25, 26 as a trade maneuver sources said.
00:44Uh, so here's the crazy thing.
00:50We had already determined in months previous to this.
00:57That the heat and Pat Riley said they weren't going to extend Jimmy.
01:02Why the hell is Jimmy all of a sudden saying, I'm not signing an extension.
01:05They were never going to give him one.
01:07That's kind of like a, that's a mood point.
01:09You didn't break up with me.
01:11I broke up with you.
01:12Can't find me.
01:13I quit.
01:14Right.
01:15So the fact of anybody down here who sees that goes, well, that's
01:21odd because he was never going to get an extension.
01:25It is odd.
01:26It is right.
01:27So, uh, let's talk about it with, uh, our guy, Anthony Chang from the Miami
01:32Herald guests on five, six WQM brought to us by the toilet of Hollywood guest
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01:46What's going on, Anthony?
01:48What's up?
01:48Just another boring day for the Miami heat.
01:50Just another day, dude, I guess this buildup is, is, is like.
01:55There's nowhere for it to go, right?
01:58Everybody has picked your side.
01:59Everybody is dug their heels in.
02:03And you see this, this, uh, last thing from shams, but they were never
02:09going to give him an extension.
02:10So what was the point of him saying?
02:11I'm not going to sign one.
02:14Well, I think there was still a chance to start the season.
02:17I do might give him an extension this off season coming up.
02:21If he played in games and he played well and he was engaged now.
02:26You know, those chances probably diminished a good amount after everything
02:29that's transpired over the past couple of weeks.
02:31Um, but yeah, I think both sides probably, obviously Jimmy doesn't
02:34want to be in Miami anymore.
02:35And the heat sitting and listen to trade offers, both sides would like to find
02:39a resolution, probably part ways.
02:42But the problem is, as we've been reporting, as many others have been
02:46reporting, it has not been easy to find a trade and the heat aren't
02:49going to just dump them to dump him.
02:50They're not going to do that.
02:52Um, he's too much still of an asset at this point.
02:55He's a top when he's, when he's healthy and he's engaged, he's
02:59a top 20 player in the league.
03:01Some would argue even maybe higher on that list.
03:04Um, when he's, when he's, you know, activated and quote unquote playoff
03:07Jimmy, so it's just been difficult because the sons of the team that's
03:12pushing the most, but as we all know, they're not going to trade Kevin
03:16Durant and Bradley Beal, I mean, uh, or Devin Booker, so it comes down
03:19to Bradley Beal, Bradley Beal is no trade cause, which further complicates
03:22the issue because he has to approve a trade who wants Bradley Beal's two
03:27years, $110 million left in his contract.
03:29Bradley Beal isn't the Bradley Beal a few years ago.
03:32And not only that, then that third team or fourth team that takes Bradley
03:36Beal has to be willing to send good enough assets to the heat
03:40for the heat to do the deal.
03:42Um, it's just, that's why nothing has been close because I don't want
03:46to say it's impossible, but it is very challenging to pull that type of trade.
03:52Is this two sides that, that think the value of Jimmy Butler is more than what
03:56it is, and that is Jimmy Butler in the heat, they value him more than maybe
04:02some other teams in the league.
04:05Um, cause he is 35.
04:08Sure.
04:09Yeah, no, I think that's a fair point.
04:11And some would argue, well, if you value Jimmy that much, why don't
04:14you just give him the extension?
04:15Right.
04:15Um, but you know, the heat, they're not going to just, they're not, they're
04:20not going to get swindled in the deal.
04:22That's not what they do.
04:23They want to get exactly what they want, which is a, a quality player,
04:29because they always want to compete.
04:30Now say what you want about the heat, you know, that middling kind of
04:33that six to eight, nine range in the East.
04:36They feel like they can compete now.
04:38Um, and B they want flexibility moving forward, especially in 2026, not off
04:42season, they don't want to take long-term salary unless it's for a star.
04:46And they want picks because they won't have many tradable picks.
04:49So is anybody like you, to your point, Leroy, is anybody going to give them
04:53that for a 35 year old Jimmy Butler that wants a max contract this upcoming summer?
04:59That's complicated.
05:00What do you think's been the, you know, you're, you've been reporting
05:03anything about they've been trying to send a message to the locker room.
05:05Like, Hey, Friday comes around.
05:08We're prepping to come back, but like you get any sense of where
05:12the team is at right now, knowing when they made the suspension, maybe
05:15they were hopeful that this thing was going to be resolved by the end of
05:18the suspension doesn't appear like it's going to be, so I guess, what, what
05:22do you think we're in for in a couple of days?
05:25I don't know.
05:25And that's why I'm fascinated because I have no idea what we're going to be in for.
05:29To be honest, I haven't been around the team during the trip.
05:31I didn't travel.
05:31I was supposed to go to LA.
05:33Um, but then obviously all that's going on over there, just terrible.
05:36I couldn't make it out there.
05:38Um, but I mean, you know, you've been around this team.
05:42A lot Tobin, you, you know how it is.
05:43Like, I think players will just kind of accept it and try to move forward.
05:48Um, but it is going to be awkward.
05:49I mean, there's no doubt.
05:50Like, how could it not, it's not going to just be like Jimmy playing his country
05:53music in the locker room, like normal.
05:55Like it's just going to be a little awkward because of everything we know,
05:58you know, how that relationship between the heat and him has been fractured.
06:03Like, I mean, every day there's more stuff coming out, right.
06:06It's just, it's gotten ugly.
06:08Um, and how is Jimmy going to take it?
06:10Right.
06:11Does Jimmy go right back into the starting lineup?
06:14Is he play 35 minutes?
06:17We've had these conversations for the last week, but I don't know if he, I
06:21don't know if he didn't know what they're going to do.
06:23I'm assuming Eric's portions, but I can have a meeting with his coaching
06:25staff for the next couple of days.
06:26And I figured like, what the heck are we going to do here?
06:28Right.
06:29If he is going to return.
06:30So it is going to be interesting.
06:31The only thing that really got to me was, is beginning of the year,
06:37he said he was going to play.
06:39Right.
06:40So I took him at his word.
06:42Um, it doesn't bother me that he has beef with Pat Riley or the heat.
06:49Right.
06:49But to me, everything that he's done and how the team now views him is going to
06:59have the most impact on this situation to me, because you can't now make it so
07:05uncomfortable for the other 14 guys in the locker room that you can't have
07:11production.
07:12So I have no idea what they're going to do it.
07:15And just to assume we're all making this up.
07:18Tobin's making this assumption.
07:19Cause he, he does this.
07:21Oh, Jimmy just will come back.
07:22Jimmy will come back and play and it'll be great.
07:24I didn't say that.
07:25Nope.
07:25But I didn't say that.
07:26I'm just saying, I don't think you can bench him.
07:28Why not?
07:29Because that's crazy, dude.
07:31He's going to sit on the bench.
07:32Well, what do you, so like, so.
07:35Are we going to just roll him in?
07:36And Anthony, this is the argument we had, or do you just roll him out there
07:40because he's Jimmy Butler and then you throw, basically throw the rest of the
07:45team under the bus, because now this argument or this disagreement or this
07:51animosity towards another one between people that have nothing to do with
07:55who's playing on the court is going to affect all the people on the court.
08:00What do you do?
08:02Yeah, no, I, it's a great question.
08:04I, I tend to side with Tobin that I'm assuming he'll just go back into a
08:09starting role because, but yeah, I, but, and then you see what you have, right?
08:16Like, look, the last two games, Jimmy played, he didn't play in the fourth
08:19quarter, if he's not giving you what you expect and you know, he's standing in the
08:24corner and he's taking five shots, then maybe you don't play him in the fourth
08:28quarter again, but you have to, I just don't, I don't see, right?
08:34No, I don't think any, I don't think anything about the situation is going to
08:36be great, like no matter what you, even if you bench them, then that's going to be
08:41another issue, right?
08:42Well, yeah, you can say the rest of the team is unaffected, but you're going to
08:45have Jimmy Butler over there sitting on the bench, staring at you while you're
08:47playing and maybe you lose.
08:49And Jimmy's just on the bench.
08:50Like, really, really, you know?
08:53So nothing is, nothing is great about this situation.
08:56There is, I don't know if there's a right way to go about it at this point.
08:59Do you feel like if, I guess what Sean is reporting that they met with, you know,
09:03Riley, and I know that he probably reiterated his trade.
09:06Do you feel like you feel like the heat are doing anything on their side?
09:10You know, I know he's been with coaches or whatnot, just to say like, Hey, it
09:14just is what it is right now.
09:15There is no out and will you, you know, play, I know they probably got that
09:20message the first time around when he came back from his illness, but, um, do
09:25you feel like there's been, I guess, maybe new efforts to see like, Hey, if
09:28this is here Friday, like will you actually try, yeah, I'm sure there's
09:33been conversations and I do know he's met with Pat, like I can confirm that
09:36he's met with Pat and this week.
09:38Um, I would expect my expectation is if Jimmy, if they asked you to play and
09:44be in uniform, he will plan being uniform because you know why he does not
09:47want to lose more money, right?
09:48Like that's the problem.
09:50So I do think in my expectation, just, I don't, I'm not going to say this is
09:55like a hundred percent, but just from talking to different people, my educated
09:59guess is that there is no trade.
10:03They want you to be able to play on Friday that he will be there in uniform
10:07and play, um, because again, if he doesn't, then that's going to cost him
10:12more money, right?
10:13So he's already lost almost $3 million, which obviously that's pending
10:16the, uh, appeal process with the MBPA.
10:20And we'll see if he gets some of that back or maybe all of that back.
10:22We'll see.
10:23Um, but just the chance of losing more money is not, you know, I don't think
10:26Jim Butler is going to do that just to, just to prove a point here and not play.
10:30So, uh, yes, there have been conversations.
10:33There'll probably be more conversations moving forward.
10:35I'm sure.
10:36Um, but my expectation is that he will at least be in uniform and say I'm available
10:42because again, that's going to cost him more money if he isn't.
10:46Yeah, this is, I just don't, I can't think of like, I'm thinking of all the
10:51other guys that have gone through this with a team and none of them, even with
10:58Dame, even with Kawhi, none of this, maybe it's because we weren't close to it.
11:06None of it seemed to get this bad, right?
11:10I just can't, none of it seemed to get this bad, even with a D like none of it
11:16seemed to get this bad.
11:18And is it because, you know, Pat Riley's involved and we all know how Pat Riley is.
11:26And you got Pat Riley and Jimmy, like two guys are basically, they go at it like each
11:32other.
11:33So like, yeah, I, I do think that's it.
11:36I mean, you have two very headstrong individuals.
11:40You know, Jimmy wants to be traded.
11:41He wants to be dealt.
11:42He wants to be moved because he didn't feel like this team gave him what he deserved,
11:47right?
11:47That extension.
11:48And Pat's like, I'm not going to just give you away to make you happy.
11:52Like this, there has to be a fair trade here.
11:56You know, I'm not going to just, I'm not going to just trade you to get rid of this
12:00uncomfortable feeling.
12:01Like we're going to, we're going to deal with it until we figure this out and find a
12:05resolution that's best for the team longterm.
12:08And I think that's where we're at right now, where you have two sides that are kind of
12:14dug into their position.
12:15And that's why I was telling, you know, the earlier Friday, if he is there in uniform,
12:20it is going to be fascinating.
12:22And it's how that unfolds and it's better if it was on the road.
12:27Oh my God.
12:28They wouldn't have done that.
12:29Yeah.
12:29I, I was, I was told that one of the reasons they did seven games was because if he was
12:36going to return, they wanted it to be at home because it's just a more controllable
12:39environment than being on the road.
12:41Do you think one of the things that I'm like, I'm still like missing the piece of,
12:45right?
12:46Like we knew, I know you and I talked about this last year.
12:48Like, Hey, what happens when he doesn't get it?
12:50What happens when he doesn't get it?
12:51Bam gets it.
12:52You know, we all knew this could have been a sensitive topic coming into the year, but
12:55while I'm still trying to wrap my mind around is like, what happened from the time
12:59that he balled out in Detroit to this?
13:03Like what, like what flipped?
13:05That's what I'm trying to like fill in the blanks because I can't figure that out.
13:09We all know that he got sick.
13:11We all saw the ankle twist, but then said he was going to come back, but it also just
13:15feels like when all those reports also happened to be coming out while he was
13:18away, like, did they try to go back to the heat and say, please give us the
13:24extension and this heat said no.
13:25And that set this all off.
13:26Like, do we have any insight into like what changed from the time that he had one of
13:30his best regular season heat games ever to the Pelicans and Pacers week?
13:37I don't know.
13:37But as, as you guys know, like it, these reports are coming up before that game,
13:42right?
13:42Like the sham, the first sham support happened before that game.
13:46We all knew Jimmy wanted the extension last off season.
13:49He wasn't very happy with not getting it.
13:51Um, and he had some moments earlier this year.
13:54He, he was playing good basketball.
13:55He was according to the advanced metrics, a top 10 player in the league still.
13:59Right.
13:59I know some people will say, you know, he can't read into that stuff.
14:02He wasn't, you know, he wasn't consistently himself early on in the year, but you look
14:07at the numbers efficiency wise, he was, he was playing very, very well.
14:12Um, so it is hard to pinpoint what changed between now and then the only thing I can
14:14think of is yes, this was like something that was going on behind the scenes already.
14:19Then he obviously just had a really good game, but I think after he got hurt, got
14:23sick, missed that time, he comes back.
14:28I don't know what happened in those two games, but something shifted in those two
14:32games where I think something changed.
14:36I don't, I don't know what it is.
14:37I don't know if it was like, you know, I know there's been reports, there's been
14:40reports about he calling out his effort.
14:42I don't think it was that I really don't like, I think that was a question of like,
14:47you know, Jimmy's performance against the Pelicans.
14:50Like what was that?
14:52But I don't think it was just that.
14:54It was a collection of things that led to the suspension from what I, from what I
14:58heard, like, you know, there was, there was a bunch of stuff behind the scenes
15:02over the past few weeks, um, that the heat felt that they needed to do something.
15:08I guess we'll go a non Jimmy for you before we get you out of here.
15:11Um, seems like we're, we're kind of hitting a moment on this road trip.
15:15We're supposed, uh, given more trust to Nico, given more trust to Kalel.
15:19What have you made of the, uh, the two young big men and how they're playing
15:22together?
15:23Yeah, it's been exciting, right?
15:24I mean, that's been one of the, one of the more encouraging things of this season
15:27is just seeing this young core go through the ups and downs.
15:30Like not every game is perfect.
15:31Nico didn't have a great game against the Clippers, obviously.
15:33I think he shot one of 10 from the fields.
15:35Um, but you see the skillsets, you see the upside, especially when you got like a
15:38little where, where, yeah, there's a lot for him to learn, especially on the
15:41defensive end, defending, picking roles.
15:43He has to get better at that, but you see the skillset, the threes, the rim
15:47protection, the lobs, um, he's 20 years old.
15:52Like there, there is a lot of upside there.
15:53Nico has really taken some strides forward here the last few
15:56weeks, um, just with his playmaking.
15:59I think he's being used in a, probably a better role for what his skillset is as
16:03well at this point of coming off the bench.
16:05Um, and even a guy like Jaime, you see him coming on to a little more playing
16:08town, a little more usage.
16:09So this road trip, you know, it's three and two right now.
16:12It's not gonna be a losing trip.
16:13Maybe it's three and three.
16:15The heat hope it's four and two and ends up four and two, but I would say the
16:18biggest takeaway has just been the young core and them taking advantage of this
16:23opportunity to play more and be more involved.
16:26Anthony, you think that seeing them play for this stretch of games and kind of
16:31going through the lumps during the course of a game and a road trip, then if they
16:36come back home and then they go back to sitting on a bench and not playing
16:39consistently, do you think that hurts?
16:42I think it hurts their development more than it helps.
16:45And Spola always says, well, you know, we're got to be ready.
16:49Got to be, but I think there's certain, like a stretch of maybe, I don't know if
16:53it's like a couple of months or three months that you got to just go through
16:57your lumps with consistent time at the highest level to be able to get better,
17:03especially in with Coleo, because he got to keep seeing the pick and roll.
17:07He's got to keep figuring out, okay, do I go run protector or do I step out?
17:12He's got to keep seeing it over and over again.
17:15And it just seems like we may not see them.
17:18We, they come back to Miami.
17:20Colombo may go back to playing eight minutes.
17:24Yeah.
17:24I mean, it doesn't help.
17:26It doesn't help not to have them to have them, you know, not playing.
17:30It's only helps you get them as many reps as possible.
17:32I think Khalil's playing time will be okay just because it's for Bam, right?
17:34And Bam is always available pretty much except for last night.
17:37So he's going to get his 12, 14 minutes, whether Jimmy's playing or not, because
17:41it's in the minutes when Bam's on the bench, but the guys you look at are
17:44Jaime, right, where Jaime's might still play 20 plus minutes, but it's not going
17:48to be in the same role if Jimmy's out there because Jimmy's going to be taking
17:51that, have the ball in his hands.
17:53Right.
17:54Nico, um, similar, like right now, Nico's being relied on to run
17:58the offense in certain stretches.
17:59It might not be the case of Jimmy's out there.
18:01So those guys I think will still play, but the role is a little bit
18:05different, um, with Jimmy in there.
18:08Did you find any of the quotes that they said?
18:09A lot of people read enough of the, uh, the Blazers game about the chemistry.
18:13Do you think there's anything to that?
18:15Like that they're either fed up with it or do you feel like, you know, just,
18:19they're just, you know, excited about a good stretch of basketball.
18:22Yeah.
18:22I'm, I'm careful to read into that stuff only because I don't know a hundred percent.
18:26Right.
18:26It could be, I, I, I would not be shocked if there is something, you know, there's
18:30a reason to read into that, but also how many times have we heard that after
18:33wins of like, the vibes are great.
18:35Like we're, you know, things are going well, like, so it's obviously
18:39very easy to read into that.
18:40And I understand what people did, but I, I'm trying to be careful and
18:44reserved here to hold the full judgment.
18:46And so if they do it, then we can do it right after that, after last
18:52night, other vibes, not great again.
18:53I mean, it's just, it's, it's a long season, right?
18:57And they would appreciate the time, man.
18:58Thanks so much.
18:59Thanks Anthony.
19:00Thanks guys.
19:00Have a good one.
19:01Anthony Chang, the Miami Herald go follow his work.
19:04Does a fantastic job boots on the ground.
19:07I mean, we kept him forever.
19:08Yeah.
19:09We couldn't stop.
19:10Like you can't like, you can have, think about this.
19:16You can have, we could have had an hour long conversation about this.
19:20And this is the thing that kind of gets to me.
19:23We could have a, with Anthony Chang, we could, we could talk to whoever,
19:27have an hour conversation.
19:29And when we get done, we're going to feel like we're no farther along or
19:34have any of a better idea of what's going to happen on Friday than
19:37we did before the conversation.
19:40And that's gotta be the frustrating part for everybody is that you
19:43have no, I, the wild card is Jimmy.
19:46It is.
19:47And the, uh, according to this report too, it says the heat officials are
19:51going to meet later this week to discuss the best route to, uh, to do with Butler
19:56later on this week, Thursday.
19:58Yeah.
19:58Tomorrow.
19:59Don't do it on Friday.
20:00Yeah, no.
20:01Hey, hey, Vlad, don't do it.
20:04Uh, later on this week, that'd be tomorrow.
20:08It better be 12 57 PM today.
20:10Like in the next few minutes, like that's when we start.
20:14You start, yo, wait a minute.
20:15You call me or you start discussing about my situation on a Thursday.
20:19So question.
20:21Yeah.
20:22They can't get in trouble if they pay him and send him home.
20:25No, I don't think they can get in trouble, but I think the
20:28league doesn't want that.
20:29You know what I understand is like the league doesn't want guys just going,
20:33you know, to, to, to be in a go home situation and get a high, especially
20:36when you make as much money as Jim, if you're PJ Tucker, it's one thing.
20:39Well, okay.
20:40Well then what, what do they want?
20:42I don't know.
20:43Like nobody has, I want answers.
20:45Damn it.