If getting suspended for the third time in a single month, with the latest ban set to last “indefinitely” but no fewer than five games and without pay, is bothering Jimmy Butler, he is doing a good job of not showing it.
In response to the latest suspension leveled at the Miami Heat star by his team, Butler has said nothing in public â but he did make a cheeky Instagram post with a clip from the Fox Network sitcom Martin which aired 132 episodes from 1992 to 1997. In the clip posted by Butler â who was all of seven years old when Martin aired its final original episode â series star Martin Lawrence makes a joke about being unemployed.
But on the serious side of the ongoing Butler drama, the 34-year-old five-time All-Star selection has been demanding a trade out of Miami since early January and the team, while at first reluctant to let their star player go, has since grown weary of Butler’s antics. The Heat are now actively attempting to deal the 14-year veteran to another location and away from Kaseya Center in downtown Miami.
Latest Butler Ban a ‘Needle Mover’ to Get Trade Done
One NBA expert, Sports Illustrated Senior Writer Chris Mannix, called Butler’s latest suspension, for walking out of a team practice and other alleged instances of bad behavior, “a needle mover” that would push the Heat’s determination to trade Butler to a new level.
Time, however, is running out. The NBA trade deadline is February 6.
The Heat have obviously had trouble identifying a willing trade partner for a Butler deal. But according to a report by NBA insider journalist Marc Stein in the Friday edition of his newsletter The Stein Line, a team that had been previously unmentioned in Butler trade speculation has actually, in a surprising move, taken the initiative and reached out to the Heat about acquiring Butler.
That team is the New Orleans Pelicans, who currently sit just one step above the Western Conference basement, with a 12-36 record. Why would the Pelicans suddendly develop an interest in trading for the troubled star player who is being paid $48.7 million this season, on the second year of a three-year, $146.4 million contract?
Pelicans Reportedly Offer Ingram For Butler in Trade
According to Stein, the answer is the Pelicans’ second-leading scorer, Brandon Ingram. The trade would be a pure salary dump for the Pelicans, unloading the remainder of Ingram’s $36 million paycheck â and mainly a way to get rid of Butler for the Heat. Ingram, 27, was once touted for superstardom selected second overall in the 2016 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
But for a variety of reasons the former Duke Blue Devil never fulfilled his hoped-for potential and currently is on the sidelines with a left ankle sprain that has limited him to just 18 of the Pelicans’ 48 games this season. Ingram has seen minutes in only three games since November 19, and none since December 7. He is listed as “out” for Friday’s showdown with the reigning NBA champion Boston Celtics, which will be the 22.2 points-per-game scorer’s 25th consecutive missed game.
The key for the Pelicans is that Ingram is on an expiring contract and becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. Still, shipping out Ingram for Butler in return would require New Orleans to add a package of lower-salaried players to the deal if the Pelicans want to avoid crossing the “luxiry tax” threshold for the first time in their history, which seems to be their motivation in shopping an Ingram-for-Butler deal to the Heat.
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