JIMMY Butler has made a public statement on his future with the Miami Heat.
Butler, 35, all but confirmed he wants out of the franchise with a cryptic comment.
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Trade rumors surrounding Butler have swirled since a bombshell report on Christmas Day.
ESPN claimed Butler was looking for a move to one of four franchises, but the Heat were adamant they weren’t trading him.
Now Butler has broken his silence at a press conference late Thursday.
“I want to see me get my joy back from playing basketball,” he declared.
“Wherever that may be, we’ll find out pretty soon.
“I’m happy here off the court, but I want to be back to someone dominant.
“I want to hoop and I want to help this team win.”
Butler was asked if he could get his joy back in Miami.
And he responded, “Probably not.”
Butler is in the final year of a contract which pays him $49 million this season.
He has a player option for next season for $52 million.
But there has been a contract standoff between the player and the team over a long-term deal since the summer.
And Butler is likely to decline the option for next season and become a free agent, if he doesn’t get a trade.
ESPN reported on Christmas Day that he has four preferred destinations.
They are the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
New rights deal
The NBA signed an 11-year deal with three networks for the league’s rights from the 2025-26 season.
And there will be no games on TNT for the first time since the network launched in 1988.
The Walt Disney Company will continue to show the league with 80 regular-season games across ESPN and ABC.
They will also show around 18 playoff games from the first and second round, a Conference Finals series for 10 of the 11 years, and remain the home of the NBA Finals.
NBC will return as an NBA broadcaster for the first time since 2002.
The network will show up to 100 games per season across it’s channels and Peacock streaming service.
It will also be the home of NBA All-Star and show approximately 28 playoff games from the first and second round.
NBC will show one Conference Finals Series for six of the 11 years, rotating with new broadcaster Amazon Prime.
Amazon will show 66 NBA regular-season games including one on Black Friday.
The streaming service is also the home of the latter stages of the NBA Cup and the entire Play-In Tournament.
Prime will also broadcast around one third of the playoff games in the first and second round.
Butler is a six-time NBA All-Star who was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in 2011.
He has been to two NBA Finals in his career, including two years ago with the Heat.
But the 35-year-old is yet to win basketball’s biggest prize.
He was injured during the playoffs last year and the Heat lost in the first round to the Boston Celtics.
Miami has a 17-15 record and is currently sixth in the Eastern Conference.
