MIAMI — If Jimmy Butler wants to see more pay, Pat Riley will want to see more play. And in simple terms, that is the entry point to this offseason for the Miami Heat.
Butler is almost certainly going to ask the Heat for a two-year extension this summer — it could guarantee him as much as $113 million for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons — and Riley said Monday in his annual end-of-season remarks that he isn't sure what the team will do when that moment arrives. «We have not discussed that internally right now,» Riley said. «We have to look at making that kind of commitment and when do we do it.
We don't have to do it until 2025, actually. But we'll see. We haven't made a decision on it, and we haven't really in earnest discussed it.» There are a number of factors the Heat will consider — Butler's playing time among them.
He is, without question, an elite player whose time in Miami has been loaded with some signature performances, especially in the playoffs.