[Bontemps, Windhorst] An anonymous NBA executive on Jimmy Butler's trade request: "You never want to get in a fight with someone who has nothing to lose, and Pat has nothing to lose."
Here is where the rest of the NBA, especially teams that would have interest in trading for Butler, have their popcorn out. There is no executive in American sports like Pat Riley, as his Heat front office operates with a bluntness and strength toward star players that is not of this era.
When rival teams saw the statement Riley released last week openly declaring the Heat would not be trading their franchise player, there was widespread reaction to the unorthodox but classic Riley move -- and to what could come next in this saga.
"That is how you project strength as an organization," one general manager told me.
Added a prominent agent: "You cannot intimidate Pat Riley."
Riley has long been unafraid to tell his star players no. In 2010, when LeBron James hinted he wanted Riley to replace coach Erik Spoelstra, as told to author Ian Thomsen in the 2018 book "The Soul of Basketball," Riley shut him down in the moment. He let Dwyane Wade walk in a contract dispute. There are many other examples over the decades. This Butler situation is going to be another chapter.
"The Heat make mistakes and sometimes have issues with players just like everyone else," the GM said. "But they do not get pushed around."
For all the noise around a potential Butler trade, no one is more secure in their seat than Riley in Miami.
"You never want to get in a fight with someone who has nothing to lose," one rival executive told me. "And Pat has nothing to lose."
The other thing to consider: The argument of "it's better to get something than nothing" no longer applies in today's NBA. As we wrote last month, Miami does not want to be stuck with money it can't move on its books in a Butler trade.