The Jimmy Butler cold war is over

It's a live action battle now.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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The Second of May 1808; Francisco Goya; 1814

Jimmy Butler had nine points on 3/6 shooting, 4 rebounds and was a team-worst -27 as the Pacers drubbed the Heat in Miami. And for some reason, the Heat let Jimmy Butler go to the podium. This was a mistake.

The reporters are really leading the proverbial horse to water here. Jimmy takes the bait. Just after the press conference, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported this:

Six-time All-Star Jimmy Butler has indicated to the Miami Heat he wants the team to trade him, league sources told ESPN.

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.

… any team, Jimmy?

Anyways, Pat Riley simply does not get pushed against a wall, and that’s what Butler is trying to do here given that Riley already stated on the record just weeks ago that he’s not trading Butler. The Heat could straight-up suspend Butler for conduct detrimental after the trade request, but that might turn into a union battle and muddies what is now a pretty clear villain turn locally for Jimmy. Riley pretends to be above playing media storyline games, but he’s definitely not. If anyone can twist “nobody believes in us” into “even Jimmy doesn’t believe in us anymore” it’s Riley.

The Heat don’t make dumb moves. They will probably trade Butler in the next month since he’s just the sort of wild card who would decline a $52 million player option out of spite and sign with another team outright. The Heat are not so flush with talent that they can burn this card just to scatter the ashes.

The trade machines are going to go nuts for a while. Here are three off-beat suggestions from your boy, the Gustav Klimt of the Trade Machine.