Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler could become a free agent as soon as the 2025 offseason, and if the Heat don’t do anything to lock him down before then, they may need to worry about the Brooklyn Nets as potential threats to add him.
REPORT: The Nets are a potential destination for Jimmy Butler in 2025 free agency, per @NYPost_Lewis.
“The six-time All-Star is the most accomplished standout on that list not named James, and he likes Brooklyn, according to sources close to the player.” pic.twitter.com/iwLoaVsT0u
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) August 31, 2024
Butler is under contract through the 2024-25 season and has a player option for the 2025-26 season. If he doesn’t receive a new deal from the Heat and declines that player option, he’ll become a free agent next offseason.
That could be the most likely scenario, based on some reporting from NBA insider Shams Charania earlier this summer.
"I'm told (Jimmy Butler) will not be signing an extension with the Heat or any other team ahead of his opt-out in 2025 free agency."@ShamsCharania gave us some updates on Butler's future pic.twitter.com/5jAREMuhbw
— Stadium (@Stadium) June 26, 2024
The Nets have some solid pieces but just finished a season in which they lost 50 games. They’re still a few steps away from being factors again in the Eastern Conference. Adding Butler would certainly help the cause.
The six-time All-Star means a ton to the Heat, who likely wouldn’t have reached the NBA Finals twice in the past five seasons without him.
In the 2023-24 season, Butler averaged 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game while shooting 49.9 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from beyond the arc. He unfortunately missed the playoffs due to injury, and without him, the Heat were quickly eliminated.
It’s a safe bet that the Heat would love nothing more than to win a ring with Butler, but he will soon turn 35 years old, so one has to wonder how many good years he has left in the tank. If the Nets were to sign him in the 2025 offseason, they’d be getting a 36-year-old player by the start of the 2025-26 campaign.
For now, the Heat and Butler are focused on the upcoming season, even if there’s a chance it’ll be their last together. Miami will certainly have a tall hill to climb if the team wants to challenge for this season’s NBA title, but that’s nothing new for Butler and company, who have regularly surpassed expectations over the years and silenced doubters in the process.
Miami will open its 2024-25 season on Oct. 23 against the Orlando Magic.
