After soft-launching a trade request from the Miami Heat last month, Jimmy Butler upped the ante Thursday. Following a postgame press conference in which he said that he wanted to get his “joy back from playing basketball,” ESPN’s Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst reported that Butler “indicated” to the Heat that “he wants the team to trade him.”
The Miami brass appears to be relenting as they announced Friday that Butler would be suspended for seven games and that the team is now open to listening to offers for their mercurial star.