Jimmy Butler talking about his 'lack of joy' on the Heat Photo Credit: Locked on Heat on YouTube

For weeks, there have been conflicting reports about whether the Miami Heat were listening to trade offers for Jimmy Butler. But on Thursday after the team’s loss to the Indiana Pacers, Butler made the choice for the Heat, all but requesting a trade from the podium of his postgame press conference.

Last month, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Heat were “listening” to trade offers for Butler. That report led to a back and forth between Charania and Butler’s agent, Bernard Lee, who flat-out called the report “fabricated.”

Then, Miami Heat President Pat Riley seemingly put an end to all of the trade rumors involving Butler last week when he publicly declared that the team would not be trading the star player.

Just when it seemed like all may be settled in terms of Butler’s future in Miami, he voiced his frustrations with the organization following the team’s 128-115 loss to the Pacers on Thursday night, a game where Butler didn’t play in the fourth quarter and scored just nine points.

“I’m going out there to compete either way. Whether I score nine points or 29 points I will compete,” said Butler. “You won’t say I’m not out there playing hard. It may look like that because my usage is down and I don’t shoot the ball a lot but you can’t say I’m not playing hard just because I don’t shoot the ball a lot.”

Butler was then asked what he wanted to see to fix the current problem with the team. He responded by saying that he “wants to get his joy back” playing basketball, whether that be as a member of the Heat or elsewhere.

“What do I want to see happen? I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball. Wherever that may be, we’ll find out here pretty soon. But I want to get my joy back. I’m happy here off the court but I want to be back to somewhat dominant. I want to hoop and I want to help this team win. And right now, I’m not doing that.”

Butler was then asked flat out whether he believes he can “get his joy back” in Miami, to which Butler answered, “Probably not.”

This is about as close as it gets to someone publicly requesting a trade without flat-out saying that they want to be traded, which certainly gives more credibility to Charania’s previous reports on a potential trade.

As for why Butler may be frustrated, Shams Charania reported on Thursday night that sources around the league believe that Butler’s relationship with Pat Riley has “never recovered” from an incident shortly after the Heat were knocked out of the postseason last season.

Butler posted on social media that he believed the Heat would have won the series had he not been out with an injury. Pat Riley responded in the end-of-season media session that anyone, including Butler, who isn’t on the court should “keep their mouth shut.”

[Rob Perez on X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.