Riley says Heat aren’t sure on a Butler extension. Player availability is a big priority
FILE - Miami Heat president Pat Riley gestures as he speaks during an end of season NBA basketball news conference in Miami, Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Riley laid out the plan for the team's offseason on Monday, May 6, 2024, after a disappointing first-round exit to Boston and an injury-plagued regular season. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Wilfredo Lee]
MIAMI (AP) — If Jimmy Butler wants to see more pay, Pat Riley will want to see more play. And in simple terms, that is the entry point to this offseason for the Miami Heat. Butler is almost certainly going to ask the Heat for a two-year extension this summer — it could guarantee him as much as $113 million for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons — and Riley said Monday in his annual end-of-season remarks that he isn’t sure what the team will do when that moment arrives. Miami wants to see players available more often than they have been.
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