'Who's with us now?' - Miami Heat teammates in no doubt where Butler stands

Butler's teammates including Heat captain Bam Adebayo shared their thoughts on the Jimmy Butler saga and his statement made clear where the roster stands.

The Miami Heat announced on social media last week Friday that they are suspending Jimmy Butler for seven games and will now listen to trade offers for the 35-year-old.

This comes a week after Pat Riley said in an official statement that they would not trade Butler.

"We usually don't comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches," Riley said in a release distributed by the team. "Therefore, we will make it clear - we are not trading Jimmy Butler."

A complete U-turn on the decision following comments made by the 35-year-old which included he 'wants to get his joy back', the Heat have decided they will listen to offers.

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"Through his actions and statements, he has shown he no longer wants to be part of this team," the team said in their new statement.

"Jimmy Butler and his representative have indicated that they wish to be traded, therefore, we will listen to offers."

In the midst of this drama, the Heat still have games to play and before their blowout loss to the Utah Jazz, several Miami players came out and gave their thoughts on the situation.

"You go through this league with purity," center Adebayo, who has played alongside Butler since he joined Miami in 2019, said.

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"And then for us, it's taking it one game at a time. It's disappointing when you see the organization and a player going head to head like that. But the rest of us got to figure out how to win games."

The 27-year-old went on to add that he is focused on who's with us.

"I feel like he came to work. He tried to perform, it just didn't go his way. I felt like he didn't want to be in the corner," Adebayo told reporters.

"We developed a system where we play around everybody. We just have to figure out how to incorporate it… we focus on who's with us now."

While Nikola Jovic directly addressed Butler's joy comments and the difficulty of not seeing his teammate around.

"It's just weird," Jovic told the South Florida Sun. "Of course, it's the business of basketball. He's trying to find his joy back, we're going to find our rhythm back.

"Like I said, it's hard to not see him around … But I hope everything is going to settle down."

According to reports, once Butler's suspension finishes, the Miami Heat expect the 35-year-old to rejoin the team ahead of the February 6 deadline.

Both parties will be hoping that a resolution is found soon and for the Miami Heat roster that a new era can kick off.

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