That seems more and more likely Jimmy Butler will join again heat when they return from their six-game road trip, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes. Butler, whose suspension is almost up, has been practicing at the team facility and is expected to return to the field on Friday if he is still on the roster.

Team officials had hoped to resolve the situation through a trade, but they reportedly haven’t made much progress. A source told Chiang that Miami has been in trade discussions with several teams over the past week but is not yet close to an agreement.

In his latest Substack column (subscribers only), Jake Fischer addresses some of the “team-damaging behavior” the Heat cited when they handed down Butler’s suspension. League sources tell Fischer that Butler skipped several morning shootarounds and insisted on taking private flights to some games rather than traveling on charters with his teammates.

Butler’s dissatisfaction may have stemmed not only from not receiving the contract extension he wanted, but also from the loss of several players he considered close friends, Fischer suspects. Max Strus, Gabe Vincent And Caleb Martinwho were among the starters on the team that reached the NBA Finals in 2023 all left in free agency in the last two offseasons.

“Those were (Butler’s) people.” A source said Fischer.

Miami isn’t willing to move Butler just to fix a problem, NBC Sports’ Kurt Helin adds. The front office is focused on finding players who can help the team win this season while taking back as little future salary as possible. The organization wants to rebuild Bam Adebayo And Tyler Herro without being burdened by another major order.

There’s more about the heat:

• Adebayo was late for Monday’s game due to a bruised lower back, Chiang explains in a separate story. He had been expected to play earlier in the day, but was downgraded to questionable in the afternoon before being ruled out a few hours before the game began. Adebayo was injured Saturday in Portland when he fell to the ground while trying to catch a pass. “He’s been dealing with this for a few days.” trainer Erik Spoelstra said. “He gets treatment a lot and it kind of got him this morning. But we’ll take it day by day and re-evaluate it.”
• With Adebayo unavailable, Spoelstra gave the go-ahead Kevin Lovewho had only been used in one of the last twelve games, adds Chiang. Love made three three-pointers in the first seven minutes Monday night but did not score again, finishing the game with nine points and three rebounds in 15 minutes of play. Most center minutes went to the rookie Kel’el Warewho had 13 points and six rebounds in the fourth quarter and now appears to be an integral part of the rotation. “Kel’el played really well” Spoelstra said. “And he had a very good game tonight. … He’s making progress. It seems like he learns something new every day.”
• Josh Richardson has returned to Miami to undergo an MRI on his heel and will miss the final game of the road trip on Wednesday against the Lakers, the Heat announced (via Twitter). Richardson has not appeared in a game since November 18th.