Miami Heat star wing Jimmy Butler along with Josh Richardson, Kevin Love, Caleb Martin and Haywood Highsmith have all been ruled out for Miami’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
The Heat allegedly spoke with the NBA about their plan to rest Butler to ensure that they weren’t violating the league’s new policy on player participation.
Timberwolves fans had a fun time making fun of Butler after the news broke.
Butler had a forgettable game against Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Friday. He ended up with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 34 minutes of playing time. Plus, he converted three of his 11 field-goal attempts and was blocked by Celtics guard Derrick White three times, including twice on dunk attempts.
The Heat lost to the Celtics 119-111. White starred on both ends of the floor for Boston, seeing as how he scored 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists on top of his three blocks.
Butler didn’t play much better in Miami’s regular-season opener against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 25. He scored 19 points but knocked down just six of his 18 field-goal attempts.
The 34-year-old wing averaged 22.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 53.9 percent from the field in 64 appearances with the Heat during the 2022-23 regular season, his fourth season with the franchise.
Love is in his 15th season in the NBA and second with the Heat. He has played for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Timberwolves and Heat since being drafted with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
The big man signed with the Heat in the middle of the 2022-23 season after Cleveland bought him out. He averaged 7.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in 21 games played with Miami during the regular season.
The Heat are in for a tough game against the Timberwolves, considering Butler, Richardson, Highsmith, Love and Martin will all not play for the team. Couple that with the fact that the Heat will be playing on the road, and Miami fans shouldn’t be too surprised if the team loses its second game in a row on Saturday.