MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat are counting Jimmy Butler as doubtful for their game Thursday in Orlando, saying he needs time to recover before he can return to the lineup.

His intentions for future games also seem a bit unclear.

Butler has not asked to move the Heat, but ESPN reported Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that the six-time All-Star is seeking a move by the league’s Feb. 6 deadline and is open to joining teams like Phoenix to connect. Golden State, Houston and Dallas.

The primary colors of these teams’ uniforms include orange, yellow, red and blue. Perhaps not coincidentally, Butler’s hair has been dyed these colors intermittently in recent weeks.

“I actually like it,” Butler said earlier this month when asked about the connection to trade talks and speculation. “It’s good to be talked about. I don’t think there is such a thing as bad publicity – up to a point.”

If Miami doesn’t trade Butler, it would risk losing him as a free agent, possibly for nothing, next summer.

It’s the latest twist in a long-running saga surrounding Butler’s future with the Heat that began gaining momentum in May when Heat president Pat Riley was noncommittal about giving Butler an extension over the summer.

Butler is eligible for an extension that would guarantee him $113 million for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. But he’s 35 and misses an average of about one in four games during his Heat tenure.

“It’s a big decision on our part to provide these types of resources unless you have someone who is there and available every night,” Riley said in May. “That’s the truth.”

Riley also chided Butler after last season for saying that teams like Boston and New York would have lost to Miami had he not been injured during the play-in tournament.

“I thought, ‘Is this trolling Jimmy or is he serious?’ If you’re not on the court playing Boston or on the court playing the New York Knicks, you should keep your mouth shut about the criticism of those teams,” Riley said last spring.

Butler rolled his ankle in Miami’s loss to Oklahoma City on Friday, but missed the rest of the game and the next two Heat games – last Saturday in Orlando and Monday against Brooklyn – because of illness, not the ankle .

Butler helped Miami reach the NBA Finals twice during his Heat tenure. He is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists this season.

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