Jimmy Butler is back making headlines for all the wrong reasons. On Thursday, ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst reported that the All-Star forward requested a trade out of the Miami Heat. His relationship with Pat Riley and the front office appears to have broken down. 

The Heat now have a month to find a potential trade partner, should they decide to honor Butler’s wishes. Of course, that means teams will likely try to secure a low-ball offer, knowing Butler wants out and could potentially make things difficult for Miami. 

“Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants the team to trade him, league sources told ESPN,” Charania and Windhorst reported. “Butler does not plan to furnish the Heat with a list of favored destinations, sources told ESPN. He is open to playing anywhere other than Miami and believes he can make any team a contender — no matter where he is moved. He does plan to take part in all team activities and do whatever the Heat ask of him during this process, sources said.”

Butler is a proven commodity in the playoffs. It makes sense for peripheral contenders to kick the tires on a potential deal. However, the Heat don’t necessarily need to trade Butler. In fact, they could find significant value in keeping him around until the summer.

Butler has a $52.4 million player option for next season. If he remains on Miami’s roster, he’s almost guaranteed to turn that down. As such, the Heat would shed a significant amount of salary off their cap sheet. So much so, that they could emerge as potential free-agency players. That could allow them to retool their roster on the fly. 

However, cap space is tricky. It’s not as simple as shedding salary and having it available to spend. Riley would likely need to make other moves to ensure he has a war chest available. Trading Butler would remove that flexibility but guarantee a return. Miami is expected to seek out a ready-made replacement for Butler as it aims to continue contending atop the Eastern Conference.

“In internal deliberations, the Heat concluded they would want a key piece to help them win now in any deal that sent Butler away from Miami,” CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter reported. “‘We don’t do rebuilds,’ one source quipped. The Heat operate, even now as Butler looks to force his way to any other NBA team, under the idea they are a real contender. They believe avoiding the Play-In Tournament is critical. They acknowledge the Celtics are the East’s best team but don’t view them as unbeatable.”

Whichever direction the Heat take, their aim remains the same: continue contending for a championship. Butler’s trade request could potentially derail the season. Still, that doesn’t mean Miami doesn’t have options on how to approach things. Now, all we can do is wait and see how everything shakes out.