“Does it matter (what I want)? I don’t think so. All of that is out of my control anyways. I’m here, I’m hooping,” said Jimmy Butler, when discussing the trade rumors that have been surrounding him over the last couple of weeks. The Miami Heat’s star presence in recent games has been quite limited amid discussions that the player is allegedly not satisfied with the environment that the franchise had created for him.

Therefore, even as he was listed ‘OUT’ on the Injury Report due to a “return to competition reconditioning” diagnosis, questions may have been raised on whether there was more to what was being highlighted. The same may be asked again, as Butler’s recent long-term absence is now working against him.

The recent Miami Heat-New Orleans Pelicans matchup saw Jimmy Butler playing for a total of 25 minutes on the court. Unfortunately, the team did not collect any of those minutes during the game’s final stage, as they excluded Butler from the entire 4th quarter! Team head coach Erik Spoelstra addressed this in a statement.

Highlighting the 35-year-old small forward’s most recent absences, he said “I mean, 13 days is a long time away and I just went with the group there in the fourth that was giving us the most and to see if that group could close it out.”

If Spoelstra was looking to get the best outcome during the final minutes, then it certainly worked. After all, the Miami Heat did end up securing the win by a 119-108 score. Furthermore, the matchup wasn’t a good one, individually, for Jimmy Butler. After all, despite playing for 25 minutes, he only averaged 9 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists. Others like Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo carried the offensive effort, which earned them more minutes than the small forward.

Benching Butler for the final minutes worked in the team’s favor. However, it also highlighted that the Heat squad can very well manage without their star. A belief like that would be the last thing that the player would need. Especially with the trade rumors about him making the headlines.

The small forward had been absent from the Miami Heat’s last 5 games due to a reported stomach illness. Around that period, Shams Charania had released a report, stating that Butler “prefers a trade out of Miami ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline, league sources told ESPN”.

Potentially addressing the report by Charania, and by others, Pat Riley had to come out to state “We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear – we are not trading Jimmy Butler.”

Despite this vote of confidence, NBA fans know the league to be a dynamic one. A place where changes can happen at any time. Whatever may happen in the future, Butler’s teammates are glad to have the star back for now.

Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro commented on Jimmy Butler’s return to the lineup: “You always got to get readjusted”

The media interviewed Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, the two scorers who carried the team, in the game’s aftermath. Soon, they shifted the topic of discussion towards Jimmy Butler. They asked Adebayo if the small forward was going through a readjustment period. After all, that would be the ideal reason to explain his 9-point performance.

In turn, the 27-year-old center replied: “You always got to get readjusted when somebody goes out. Especially, like you said, been gone for 13 days, but he’ll get back acclimated. We’ll get him back in a flow, and then we’ll be okay”.

Meanwhile, Herro highlighted his appreciation for the veteran’s presence by stating, “It was good just to have him back out there. Yeah, always great playing with him”.

The start of a new month, and a new year, has brought down Jimmy Butler’s average minutes. We will see whether the same will continue or improve.