Jimmy Butler cops third suspension in a month after being told by Miami Heat he won’t be in starting lineup

Jimmy Butler was back from suspension. Again.

And then Butler got suspended by the Miami Heat. Again.

Butler has been suspended for the third time this month by the Heat, this one starting basically just as the second one was ending.

The team said on Monday (Tuesday AEDT) that Butler left Monday’s shootaround early, in advance of a game against the Orlando Magic. He is expected to miss at least five games.

Butler was expected to come back from his second suspension on Monday - only to be suspended for a third time.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Butler was told during the shootaround that he was not going to be back in the starting line-up. He left the shootaround not long afterwards, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the team did not release that detail publicly.

Butler was suspended for Miami’s most recent two games after missing a team flight to Milwaukee last week.

He had missed 14 of Miami’s previous 19 games entering Monday, including nine of the past 12 because of the suspensions - the first a seven-game ban for conduct that the team deemed detrimental, followed by the two-game suspension.

Butler’s role going forward - starter or non-starter - was in some question even before the latest suspension was announced.

He hasn’t come off the bench in a game since January 27, 2017, exactly eight years ago Monday in a game against Miami, ironically, when he and then-Chicago teammate Dwyane Wade criticised how the Bulls were playing.

Including playoffs, Butler has started in each of his past 560 appearances.

Butler wants a trade, and Miami are trying to comply. But moving Butler and his $US48.8 million salary this season is likely going to be more complicated than it would have been in past seasons, largely because of the league’s aprons - salary levels installed as part of the new collective bargaining agreement that restrict the ways bigger-spending teams can make certain moves.

Including Monday, there are only six games left for Miami before the NBA’s trade deadline of February 6, raising the possibility that Butler will not play for the team again.

The Heat next play at home on Wednesday (local time) against Cleveland. After that, they leave for a four-game road trip to San Antonio, Chicago, Philadelphia and Brooklyn - that Nets game on February 7, one day after the deadline.

Butler has said repeatedly throughout this process that he still loves Miami, in the off-the-court sense.

“I love this city with everything that I have,” he said at the weekend.

The issue, for him, is with the team. Butler became eligible last summer for a two-year, $US113 million extension that the Heat have not offered him.

Heat president Pat Riley said after last season the team had reservations about such a deal since Butler has missed about one of every four Miami games since he joined the side.

Butler is averaging 17 points per game this season. He had one of the best statistical games in Heat history against Detroit on December 16, with 35 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists.

In six appearances since then entering Monday, including one where he departed in the first quarter with an illness, Butler is averaging 9.5 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists.

He has also lost at least $US3 million in salary because of the suspensions, a figure the National Basketball Players Association plans to appeal.