Pat Riley and his stars have always had a troubled relationship. Alonzo Mourning, Dwayne Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Lebron and now Jimmy Butler. Riley was a tough coach and is a tough negotiator. The comments between Jimmy Butler and Riley conjured images of a couple in a car on a rainy afternoon. One person, with no emotion, stating their feelings. The other, hurt, but nodding in agreement, mechanically.
The Heat will not extend his contract
Why will the Heat extend Jimmy Butler? Jimmy Butler explained it in the Netflix special, “Starting 5.” but not for obvious reasons. Basketball “is a business” and his injuries last season affected his value. Last season, Jimmy Butler’s contract wasn’t extended.
Pat Riley said he had to show that he could play more games. Then, coming into the season, Jimmy Butler looked ready to play, using his photo session to prove his was ready (no Emo Jimmy.) The formula for success seemed simple: Motivated Jimmy + new season = Production and new contract.
Life is different for Butler
His father passed away last season in February and it wasn’t advertised until after the season. This quote from the Netflix special, “Starting 5” is telling:
“I didn’t know what to do. No amount of money in the world could bring him back. Basketball, no matter how much I played it, it couldn’t fix that.”
The narrative on Jimmy Butler before the reveal was that he didn’t take the regular season seriously. To add confusion, Butler made a silly Youtube video (in May) taunting the Celtics and the Knicks. He said that none of them would be in the playoffs if he were playing.
Pat Riley’s response
Riley responded (2 days after) to Butler’s silly video as a 79 year-old former basketball player/coach. He didn’t like Butler’s comment. Then Riley took to challenging Butler to play more games this season. To boot, Butler’s contract wasn’t extended. Dwayne Wade said that Riley was tough in contract negotiations when Wade left in 2016.
Riley is committing the same mistake
Riley has said that he regretted letting Wade leave in 2016. Riley also let Mourning go to New Jersey for concerns of health. He was frustrated with Shaquille O’Neal for his injury problems. Lebron “didn’t have the guts,” to stick around after the 2014 season. Butler’s father passed away in February, Butler tore his MCL after and the Heat were bounced in the first round last season. One can see that “too much is happening” in too short a span for good-faith negotiations.
The Heat need to extend Butler because he is the best thing to happen to the franchise since Wade. In the “What’s the Future?” article on our site, the Heat would fall back too much with a trade because of bad fan reaction and player inexperience. Also, Tyler Herro and Terry Rozier are too similar in skill set to help the team win.
