The Heat were eliminated by the Celtics 1-4 and exited in the first round of the playoffs. In the last five seasons, the Heat and Green have met in the playoffs four times, winning two times each. In this year's playoffs, Butler didn't play a game due to injury, otherwise the Heat wouldn't be out so quickly! NBA salary expert Bobby Marks wrote an article looking forward to the Heat's offseason contract extension.
Butler's current contract is three years, $146 million, expiring in the summer of 2026, and a player option worth $52.41 million for the 2025-26 season. Bobby Marks said that this offseason, Butler could exercise the player option to sign a one-year, $58.6 million early contract extension. He can also give up the player option and renew his contract for 2 years and 113 million in advance!
Butler was born on September 14, 1989 and will be 35 next season. If Butler renews his contract early, Butler will be 38 years old and earn nearly $60 million a year when his contract expires in 2027. Based on Butler's contributions to the Heat, and the mental attributes he brings to the Heat, this price is not expensive. But don't forget, Riley is a god operator.
Butler joined the Heat in 2019 and led the team to the playoffs in five seasons: the Heat went out in the first round twice, reached the Eastern Conference Finals three times, and reached the Finals twice. With the Heat's lineup, it is definitely a success to achieve such results. However, if they want to win the championship, it is obviously not enough to rely on Butler as a star!
Riley has already missed out on a number of stars because of his budget-conscious thinking. The Heat are reluctant to pick a first-round pick and don't want to eat a big contract! The pursuit of Durant and Mitchell in 2022 failed, and the pursuit of Lillard and Beal in 2023 failed. Having said that, not getting Beal is a good thing for the Heat, after all, he is a representative of "high salary and low ability".
The Heat don't have many draft picks to trade right now: two first-round picks and three second-round picks. In addition, the Heat's salary this season (174.7 million) ranks 10th in the league, close to the second local tyrant line, which will also affect their reinforcements. Once the second local tyrant line (182.8 million) is triggered, the Heat will lose the middle class exception, and only the base salary will be available.
In his five seasons with the Heat, Butler never played more than 65 regular-season games. He played in 60 regular-season games due to injury this season, averaging 34 minutes per game, scoring 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 turnovers while shooting 49.9% from the field, 41.4% from three-point range and 85.8% from the free throw line.
Butler is paying $45.18 million this season, 11th in the league, and $48.8 million next season. Some fans may be curious: Why is the Heat's salary so high? Because Butler is not the only one with a big contract. Adebayo's salary next season is 34.85 million, Herro is 29 million next season, Rozier is 24.92 million, and Dunroe is 19.41 million.
The Heat also want to re-sign Caleb Martin, who has a 7.13 million player option next season, and is likely to jump out of his contract. Martin averaged 10 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in the regular season, shooting 43.1%, 34.9% and 77.8% from three. In the playoffs, he averaged 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage: 46.7%, 44%, 100%!
Final question: Butler and Martin, how much do you think they are worth each year?