Riley tells players he’s ‘pulling the plug’ on Butler trade talks
WASHINGTON — In another rare confirmation of Miami Heat trade negotiations, a team spokesman confirmed shortly before Thursday night’s game that Heat President Pat Riley recently told the team’s players he was “pulling the plug” on trade negotiations regarding disgruntled Minnesota Timberwolves guard Jimmy Butler.
Amid growing speculation of specific Heat players being offered for Butler, Riley, during a recent practice session, lined up the team’s players on the practice court at AmericanAirlines Arena and told them he was standing by them.
Riley, however, did not state that a trade was categorically off the table.
Last week, Riley refuted a report that he had used a profanity amid trade discussions with Timberwolves coach Tom Thibodeau, who also handles the team’s personnel decisions.
Riley then issued a statement that read, “As to what has been reported in the past 24 hours, I have too much respect for Tom Thibodeau and all that he’s accomplished in this league. Our conversations have been nothing but cordial and I have never used that kind of language in negotiations.”
The Heat, during Riley’s tenures, have seldom, if ever, acknowledged trade negotiations.
The Butler negotiations have played out so publicly that Riley has instead found himself offering clarifications about the process through the team’s media-relations wing.
Last week, a report from former Heat broadcaster Jorge Heat guard Goran Dragic dribbles past the Wizards’ Otto Porter Jr. during the first half Thursday night in Washington. The Heat won 113-112 on Kelly Olynyk’s last-second basket. Story, 3C
Sedano on ESPN Radio in Los Angeles cited Riley antipathy toward Thibodeau.
On his radio show, Sedano, the former Heat television studio host, said, “Here’s what’s happening. There’s been a couple of different incarnations of this deal.
“The first one, the Heat didn’t want to take back Gorgui Dieng. Then, the next incarnation of the deal was ‘OK forget it, let’s just do it straight up, just for Jimmy on your end.’
“So they finally relented on Josh Richardson, they were giving them Josh Richardson. Then Dion Waiters was going to be the cap filler, and then a protected first-round pick. The medicals were exchanged, which, really, generally in the NBA means this is a done deal. And then, Thibs called back and wanted more picks.
“And Pat Riley literally — I was told — called him a motherbleeper and hung up the phone.”
Then came a report Thursday in The Athletic that said, “Days before their own season opener Wednesday, Miami president Pat Riley informed his locker room that the team would stick with the current roster to start the season in a show of loyalty the organization has for their current players, league sources said.”
That led to a Heat spokesman getting clarification from Riley and passing it along to media at Thursday’s game against the Washington Wizards.