Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo had a direct response when asked about his teammate, Jimmy Butler. Butler has been involved in countless trade talks over the past week. However, the team has not allowed the outside narrative bother them as they’ve won four games in a row.
On Thursday, the Heat had a 114-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. Butler didn’t have the best scoring night as he had 11 points. However, he contributed in other ways which helped the team win with five rebounds and four assists.
The Heat won thanks to the dominating performance from Adebayo, who had 21 points and 16 rebounds. Star guard Tyler Herro added 23 points and four assists. After the game, the big man addressed the trade talk surrounding his teammate.
“We love him for who he is,” Adebayo said. “He’s always going to be Jimbo and that’s why we love him cause he do stuff like that.”
“At any point in time, you’ll go out there and literally get 50. We love him for who he is.”
Bam Adebayo on Jimmy Butler.
“We love him for who he is…” #HeatNation pic.twitter.com/vCLKrs2OXz
— Zachary Weinberger (@ZachWeinberger) December 13, 2024
ESPN’s Shams Charania revealed on Tuesday the Miami Heat have started to open their ears to other teams to trade Butler. Charania said the Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets are linked to the six-time All-Star. The ESPN reporter added another team who reportedly drew interest from Butler himself.
Charania revealed that the star forward is interested in joining the Phoenix Suns. After the report came out, Butler’s agent, Bernard Lee, denied the claims and called the reporting “fabricated.”
Miami Heat star reportedly interested in joining a rebuilding Eastern Conference team
Credit: AP Photo
The Miami Heat star has been linked to countless teams in the past. However, now that his contract is set to expire in the summer of 2025, rumors about his future with the franchise has gotten more serious. One team that could keep Butler in the Eastern Conference is the Brooklyn Nets.
The New York Post reported on Wednesday that Butler is interested in joining the Nets, despite it being a rebuilding team. Unfortunately, the Post reported that Brooklyn’s general manager “isn’t believed” to be interested in acquiring the veteran star.
Amid the trade talks around him, the Heat star isn’t bothered.
“I actually like it,” Butler told reporters Wednesday. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there’s (such a) thing as bad publicity—to a point. But, you know, somebody talks about me getting traded; it’s a lot.”
With the Heat this season, Butler has played 17 games, averaging 19.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen with Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
