Heat's Butler: 'Actually like it' as rumor mill spins

Jimmy Butler knows location are tons of questions astir his early pinch the Miami Heat. He mightiness get traded, he mightiness time off arsenic a free supplier adjacent summer, he mightiness workout a $52.4 cardinal action to return to the Heat, aliases he mightiness get a caller contract.

"Who knows?" Butler asked.

The Heat forward, who has led the squad to a brace of NBA Finals trips successful his Miami tenure, said Wednesday that he doesn't mind his sanction being successful the rumor mill.

The Heat are unfastened to listening to offers for Butler and making a woody if the connection is right, league sources told ESPN's Shams Charania earlier this week. That wouldn't beryllium surprising, fixed Butler's statement position and the anticipation that he mightiness time off pinch the Heat getting thing successful return adjacent summer.

"I really for illustration it," said Butler, who is averaging 19 points per crippled this season. "It's bully to beryllium talked about. I don't deliberation there's specified a point arsenic bad publicity -- to a point."

The Heat could person offered an hold past summertime and chose not to, presumably for a assortment of reasons including Butler's property -- he's 35 -- and the truth that he missed 26% of Miami's games complete his first 5 seasons pinch the team.

He still intelligibly impacts winning: Miami is 8-2 this play erstwhile he scores astatine slightest 18 points. And the Heat aren't caller to waste and acquisition speculation; Tyler Herro has been the centerpiece of rumors successful each of the past 3 summers.

Butler said Wednesday that money doesn't really matter to him astatine this point, adding that he's not fixated connected extensions aliases trades.

"My kids matter, my happiness matters, my well-being matters and my family matters," Butler said. "Right now, it's each astir competing, staying healthy, playing immoderate awesome basketball. I deliberation I've done that truthful far, truthful we'll spot what we got."

He stopped short of saying that he wants to perfectly stay successful Miami.

"I'm beautiful judge y'all are going to get a study that's going to opportunity different anyways, truthful there's nary consciousness successful maine answering that question," Butler said.

It has been societal media fodder for a fewer days, pinch immoderate moreover suggesting that Butler's hairsbreadth dye successful caller weeks -- sometimes yellow, sometimes blue, sometimes reddish -- has matched the teams immoderate of the waste and acquisition speculation links him to for illustration Golden State, Dallas and Houston.

That said, he has insisted since arriving successful Miami that he wants to bring the squad different championship. That stance has not changed.

"We're going to proceed to triumph and I'm proud of the guys," Butler said. "You spot everybody retired present moving and we cognize what we're tin of."