How will Heat handle Jimmy Butler's request for max extension? Pat Riley offers insight

MIAMI — Jimmy Butler wants more from the Miami Heat, and the Heat wants more from Butler.

Butler will ask for a maximum two-year contract extension worth about $113 million from the Heat this offseason, and the Heat will ask Butler to play in more games next season.

Whether either side fulfills the other’s request remains to be seen, as Heat president Pat Riley was noncommittal on Monday when asked whether the Heat will offer Butler the max extension he will seek this offseason.

“We don’t have to do that for a year. So we have not discussed that internally right now,” Riley said during his 43-minute season-ending news conference Monday afternoon. “But we have to look at that, 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 really haven’t in earnest discussed it. So we’ll just see what happens.”

Riley is right, the window to sign Butler to that extension opens July 7 and doesn’t close until June 30, 2025.

The issue is that Butler and his camp will push for that extension before the start of the upcoming season, according to a league source. Choosing not to offer this exact extension this offseason could lead to a disgruntled Butler.

“I mean, if he requests, we can either accept or we can say we’re going to think about it,” Riley said when asked what the Heat will do if Butler requests the extension this offseason. “But we have not made a decision on it. I think you make too much out of this. He still has two years left on his contract, theoretically. He’s got a player option. But that’s something that we have to give some real thought to based on a lot of factors. ... That’s a big decision on our part to commit those kinds of resources unless you’re somebody who’s really going to be there, available every single night. That’s the truth.”

The truth is the Heat wants to see Butler stay healthy and be available for more games before investing more money in him.

Butler, who turns 35 on Sept. 14, missed 20 or more regular-season games for the third time in the past four seasons this regular season because of injuries and other reasons. He also was not available for the Heat’s short-lived five-game playoff run this season because of a sprained MCL in his right knee he sustained during the NBA’s play-in tournament.

“That was discussed prior to last year,” Riley said when asked whether the Heat needs to put pressure on Butler to be available for more regular-season games. “We had a discussion with his agent about that. That was discussed thoroughly.”

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