Miami Heat president Pat Riley held his end-of-season press conference on Monday, following the team’s elimination from the NBA playoffs last week.
After finishing as the Eastern Conference’s No. 8 seed and losing a first-round series to the Boston Celtics in five games, Riley told reporters that he expects head coach Erik Spolestra “to take a deep dive into the offense and defense.” Payroll is also a significant concern with the Heat currently $10 million over the luxury tax threshold.
However, Riley raised the temperature in the room considerably when he directly and indirectly addressed Jimmy Butler’s role with the team.
Butler caused a stir over the weekend with remarks that the Heat would have defeated the Celtics “would be at home” if he was available to play. (Butler injured his knee during a play-in tournament loss the Philadelphia 76ers.) And if he was playing with the Sixers, they wouldn’t have lost to the New York Knicks in the first round.
Riley had no patience for Butler’s remarks when he was asked about them.
“For him to say that, I thought ‘Is that Jimmy trolling or is that Jimmy serious?'” said Riley. “If you’re not on the court playing against Boston or on the court playing against the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut and your criticism of those teams.”
Pat Riley on Jimmy Butler’s comments that the Heat would’ve won over Boston if he were healthy… “you should keep your mouth shut” pic.twitter.com/K1K3RVo0lt
— WPLG Local 10 Sports (@Local10Sports) May 6, 2024
Yet that stern rebuke may not have solely been based on Butler’s comments. During the press conference, Riley referenced the “availability” of Heat players.
“There are a lot of elements that go into a culture, the erosion of a culture, problems in the NBA that are league-wide when it comes to health and players missing games, when it comes to availability,” Riley said.
“Here we get eliminated again in the first round. There are things you have to look at,” he added. “Who moves the needle the most on our team [is] Jimmy. He is an incredible player. What I said about change, is he’s going to have to give some thought for what we really want it to be.”
Butler, who turns 35 in September, played in 60 games this season for Miami. During his five seasons with the Heat, he’s averaged 58 games. With rumblings that Butler wants a contract extension, Riley appeared to be sending a message that his star needs to play more. And if he can’t play more, he shouldn’t talk about what might have happened.
The 13-year veteran is signed for the 2024-25 season with a $52 million player option for 2025-26. Butler is reportedly seeking a two-year, $113 million extension, according to the Miami Herald.
But when Riley was asked if trading Butler was a possibility, he simply said “No.” So the Heat’s president and star player will apparently be trying to make this work over the next two seasons.
